Inheritors of the Will of Fire
by Swinelord
Summary: An encounter with an old enemy ends with an adult Naruto and Sasuke being forced into a world vastly different from their own. With no access to their powers and no idea how to get home, the shinobi fumble their way through an unfamiliar world, in search of a way to return to the Elemental Nations, and reunite with their friends and families.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Something Amiss**

* * *

For nearly five years now, Sasuke Uchiha has relentlessly wandered the vast worlds created by Kaguya Ootsutski. What he was searching for, only he could say, however, it wouldn't be so far fetched as to assume that he wasn't actually looking for anything in particular.

During his time spent in these worlds, he had discovered multiple structures that sparked some form of interest. Suffice to say, his discoveries were very few and far between, as he had only so far discovered around seven structures within these lands, all of which long since worn away by both time and the hazardous elements the worlds possessed.

Currently, within the mountainous peaks of Kaguyas icy dimension, Sasuke found himself taking shelter within a cavern in an attempt avoid the fierce blizzard that raged on throughout the realm.

He hated visiting this place. Aside from the temperatures ranging anywhere from somewhere far below zero, to somewhere _really_ far below zero, he had yet to actually find anything in this world. Regardless, he continued searching this land every so often, not wanting to potentially miss anything that might actually be worth a damn.

He glanced outside of the cave, noting that the blizzard had begun to let up and that the light rays from the star looming in the distance were illuminating the land. He sat up, and exited the cave, emerging to find himself standing at a cliffside overlooking the world. With his vision no longer obscured by the dense snowstorm from earlier, he could actually make out a large tower standing tall over the cliffs and mountains.

A rare smile graced his features as he started down the mountain, eager to explore.

The hike down didn't take very long, and after crossing a frozen lake, passing through barren snowfields, and making his way over at least a dozen different mountains, he finally stood at the entrance to the courtyard that housed said building.

The metallic gate which sat at the top of a large incline, lay open, the eerily well-maintained structure beckoning him to enter. He started forward, noting that the surrounding terrain was mostly stone and fancy paver now and that the entrance into the tower was wide open.

He had hardly made it halfway through the courtyard when he felt a presence lurking beneath the snow. Seemingly ignoring it, he continued onward, unswayed by growing number of identical power signatures that surrounded him on all sides.

"Sasuke... Uchiha," a deep voice echoed throughout the area, fear evident in its tone. "How in the blazes did you find this place?"

"You sound familiar," Sasuke stated, completely ignoring the question. "Tell me, who are you?"

"Bah! My identity does not concern the likes of you! Now begone, and never return!"

"Now you've got me curious. Care to tell me what this place is?"

"This is your last chance," the voice boomed as a black, gooey substance squirmed through the snow.

Sasuke gripped his blade. "And just what do you think you can do to me?" he confidently stated while slowly sliding his blade from its sheath. "If you want me gone, then you're just going to have to force me out."

A loud hiss signaled the assault of an attacker, one which Sasuke easily disposed of with a slash of his blade. It was a creature, all black in color, with only glowing yellow eyes as its sole feature.

"Black Zetsu..." Sasuke mumbled just as dozens of identical creatures burst forth from the snow.

The man took one look at the creatures, his Sharingan flaring to life, and with a single, lightning infused, slash he sliced through the crowd and sent their now lifeless bodies sprawling. Upon impact with the ground, they turned to black mush.

"That all?" he mocked as he shoved the blade into the head of a Zetsu that thought he could creep up from the snow.

"Leave us be!" the voice cried as the giant stone doors that led into the building slammed shut. "This is your last warning Uchiha, leave us now or face mothers wrath!"

"Mother?" Sasuke wondered aloud. "They can't be attempting to-"

"GOT YOU!"

Sasuke spun around just in time to see a large, black hand slam down on top of him, kicking up the surrounding snow and blanketing the area in a haze of white.

* * *

 **II**

* * *

Naruto was in a bright and cheery mood on this particularly fine and sunny day. How couldn't he be? Here he sat, on the balcony of his two-story home, looking over an ever prospering village with a bowl of ramen in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other. It was also worth noting that his wife was currently seven months into her second pregnancy and his son was only a few months away from being able to register at the ninja academy.

As he dug into the bowl, slurping away at the noodles and every so often picking out a piece of pork and shoving it into his mouth, he had a couple of thoughts. For one, the dishes weren't done, The living room had a pretty nasty vomit stain on the carpet courtesy of his food poisoned son from the night before, and the kitchen light still wouldn't turn on no matter how many times he flipped the switch.

In short, within approximately five minutes, he was about to have an angry, softspoken, pregnant women in his household and he couldn't even hide from her!

*Slurp*

Life was good.

The door to the balcony slid open much earlier then he had anticipated, and as Naruto predicted, he was immediately hit with a gentle tap to somewhere along his back, close to his spinal cord. The result, his body immediately went numb.

"Hinata, I can explain."

"You haven't done your chores."

"I know... but c'mon, gimmie a break! The stupid studying stuff took like two whole hours to get through and I wanted to relax!" he cried, finishing off the broth in his bowl and heading inside towards the kitchen.

"Naruto... please just help me out here for a bit. Once we the baby comes, things should go back to normal and you won't have to worry about dishes and the like."

"Hey now, you make it seem like I _never_ do my chores!"

The woman giggled. "You only ever do them when I tell you too and even then..." she trailed off and gave him a look.

"That's because you spoiled me," he joked as he approached her, spun her around and wrapped her in an embrace. "Why are you such a bad influence?"

Hinata smiled, the joy in her features being enough to cause her husband to form his signature toothy grin. "Don't think this'll get you out of your chores, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Yeah, yeah... I'll endure it for another couple of years."

"A couple? And what about after?"

"We'll make Boruto do them."

As if on cue, Boruto happened to walk into the living room, his hair wild and eyes droopy. He took one look at his parents and groaned. "You guys are gross."

"You're gross," Naruto commented.

"You're grosser!"

"You're grounded!"

"What!?"

"You heard me!"

Hinata sighed and granted her son a gentle gaze. "Ignore your father, he's just grumpy because he's a tad behind on his chores."

"A tad? This place is a mess!" Boruto cried as he grabbed a bowl, a gallon of milk, and a box of cereal.

In contrast to his mother's chuckle, Naruto comically glared at the boy as he poured his milk into the bowl, and then poured the cereal. This troubled him deeply.

"Whos kid is that?"

"Hush," Hinata said as she shooed her husband away. "If you take care of the laundry, I'll do the dishes."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Naruto walked off, his mind drifting back to its earlier, more relaxed state, and even though he still couldn't feel a single muscle in his body, he was happy that the scene played out the way it did. All in all, this was just your average day in the life of the Uzumaki family.

A solid ten minutes passed and Naruto had just finished gathering up the last of the dirty laundry when he heard his son call from the other room.

"Dad, there's someone at the door!"

"Who is it?" he called out, starting toward the front door.

"Some dude with a freaky eye and one arm..."

"Freaky eye... one arm?" he mumbled as he emerged from the hallway to find Boruto standing at the doorway atop a chair and peeking through the eyehole.

Upon sensing his father's presence, he stepped out of the way as Naruto went to check through the peephole himself. There, standing at his porch, was a face he hadn't seen in quite some time.

"It is you.." he muttered to himself as Hinata appeared from the kitchen.

Naruto opened the door and greeted the man. "Well I'll be damned, and here was me thinkin you'd never visit!" he cried, extending a fist. "How've you been Sasuke?"

"Fine, I suppose," Sasuke smirked and repeated the gesture. "Its good to see you, Naruto."

"Right back at ya."

"Nice to see you well, Sasuke," Hinata greeted as she approached the door. "Please come in, make yourself at home."

Sasuke shook his head in response. "I'm afraid I don't have much time to waste right now, but thank you nonetheless," he said, his gaze shifting back to Naruto. "There's an urgent matter that requires our attention."

Naruto looked concerned. "Did something happen?"

Sasuke glanced over to Hinata and Boruto, who both looked on with worry in their eyes. "Not here," he said, gesturing over to the Hokage tower looming in the distance. "Kakashi ought to hear about this as well."

"Alright," Naruto said as he started toward his bedroom. "Lemmie go get ready real quick."

Sasuke nodded as he watched the blond disappear into the house. He now stood, standing in an awkward silence with the Uzumaki family.

"You can come too I suppose," he said, gesturing to Hinata. "Where we're going could potentially prove hazardous, even for us. I'm sure Naruto wouldn't want you left in the dark."

Hinata shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't leave my son home alone. Who knows what kind of trouble he could get up to while no ones here to keep an eye on him?"

"Just like his father huh?"

"In some ways..."

"Hey, I'm still here ya know!?"

Sasuke knelt down to Boruto's eye level and gave him a once over. "Spitting image of him too, right down to the blue eyes and birthmarks."

"Alrighty," Naruto said, emerging from the house in his ninja gear. "Let's go."

Sasuke nodded and started off with Naruto trailing behind.

"Wait," Hinata said, causing the duo to stop in their tracks.

"Yeah?"

"Not even going to say goodbye?" Hinata said in a joking manner.

"I won't be gone for long, I'm sure."

"At most, we should only be gone for a couple hours," Sasuke chimed in. "I'll have him back at least before dinner."

Naruto approached his wife and wrapped her in a warm hug, this exchange ending with a gentle peck on each other's lips. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I know... I'm just... you know I worry."

Naruto smiled, then turned to his son who currently staring intently at the ground. "You're the man of the house while I'm gone y'hear?"

"You'll only be gone for a few hours right?"

"Well yeah, but you still gotta keep your mom safe for me while I'm away, especially since she's carrying your little sister!"

"Tch, whatever dad."

Naruto ruffled the boy's hair, this eliciting a smile from him. "See you in a bit kiddo... oh and, when I get back, whats say you and me do a little shuriken training yeah?"

"Deal!" the boy cried out as he ran off into the house. "I'll start warming up!"

"You'd better! If I come home and see you lazying around on the couch, it'll be pushups instead of technique training!"

"You got it!"

"Boruto, don't run in the house!" Hinata cried out. She glanced over at Naruto who simply nodded in return. She smiled, then entered the house, closing the door behind her.

Sasuke cracked a genuine smile at the scene before turning away, not wanting to hear a peep about it from Naruto.

"Sasuke, was that a smile I just saw?"

"Tch," he uttered before starting toward the Hokage Tower, "Let's get going."

Naruto caught up to Sasuke in seconds, falling in stride with his longtime friend. "Hehe, it's tough being a dad and a shinobi at the same time."

"So it seems."

"What about you Sasuke? Are you gonna visit Sakura when we get back? You know, Sarada's gotten pretty big since you last saw her."

"I may. I've actually been thinking about visiting more often, you know... being apart of my daughter's life a bit more."

"I'm sure the girls would love it."

"Yeah..."

* * *

 **III**

* * *

The click caused by his office door opening prompted Kakashi to look up from the computer monitor for the first time in a solid hour. "This is rare," the man commented, "you two never visit me."

Naruto stepped in first, and Sasuke after, closing the door behind him.

"Sasuke said he's got something he needs to tell us."

"Of course..." Kakashi said with a sigh. "You know, I remember a time when you two would get up every morning just to come and see me. Now you lot are all grown up and don't even have the time to stop by and say 'hello' to your old sensei..." he finished, wiping a solitary tear from his eye. "Talk about ungrateful."

"Oh yeah? Well since we're remembering things here, does the phrase, 'I got lost on the road of life,' ring any bells?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke scoffed. "If I recall correctly, it happened just about every other day... and when it wasn't that, it was helping old ladies across streets and carrying their groceries."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"Anyways," Sasuke began, "the reason for my... unannounced arrival, is because I have something important to relay."

"Well let's hear it," Kakashi said.

"Black Zetsu is still alive."

Naruto and Kakashi widened their eyes at this statement.

"Black Zetsu? You mean that brat behind Kaguya's revival?"

"Seems like it."

"Elaborate," Kakashi said.

"As you know, my Rinnegan grants me the ability to travel through Kaguyas worlds. I was wandering through her snow realm when I came across a tower standing tall above the mountains. Naturally, I investigated, and when I did, that's when I encountered him, him and group of his clones. He seemed awfully protective of the place as he continued to throw clone after clone my way in an attempt to stop me."

"You don't think he's found a way to revive Kaguya do you?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "He mentioned something about 'his mother's wrath'. But if she really had been revived, I'd have sensed it the moment I stepped into that world. The reason I want you to tag along should be obvious now, Naruto. If something goes wrong, and we need to seal her up again..."

"Better safe then sorry, I get ya."

Kakashi nodded in approval. "Alright, I'll let the other Kage know about your findings immediately. If Black Zetsu is still out there in this world somewhere, then the world can never truly be safe."

"So... me and you, just like old times?" Naruto asked, a grin adorning his features.

"Looks that way."

"Well, I suppose I don't have much to worry about then now do I? With you two on the case, you should be able to make short work of whatever threat comes your way."

"You bet!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto," Sasuke began, "before we set out... are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"We're already here, aren't we? Of course, I want to go through with this, we can't let Black Zetsu roam free, even if he's in another world!"

"I'm aware, however, isn't Hinata expecting soon?"

"She's about two months or so away I think. We'll be fine Sasuke!"

"Right... you're right."

"You sound worried there," Kakashi commented.

"Just a nasty feeling I can't shake. It's probably nothing."

"I see... well, are you two heading out now or-" Before he could finish, the area between Naruto and Sasuke began to distort, eventually forming a rift of sorts that sucked the duo inside. Kakashi stared at the spot where they once stood and chuckled. "Aaaaand... they're gone. Good luck you two."

* * *

 **IV**

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke materialized before the tower, standing atop a large puddle of ooze.

The blond glanced around the area and whistled, "Man you sure did a number on this place!" he said, referring to the various craters that littered the courtyard. "You sure you needed me for this... and what the hell am I stepping in?"

"Zetsu juice."

Sasuke approached the tower and kicked the two metal doors with enough force to send them flying off their hinges. A sinister hiss emanated from within.

"After you," Sasuke said, gesturing with a head motion.

"Don't mind if I do," Naruto complied, immediately jumping into his chakra cloak mode, this illuminating the chamber with a harsh light that revealed numerous cowering Zetsu.

"Don't let them go any further!" one cried as the Zetsu army rushed the duo.

"What's the plan?"

"Keep at least one alive. We ought to have some words with him."

"So we keepin score or-"

"I've already got twenty under my belt," Sasuke interjected, "you've got some work to do to catch up." With that, Sasuke rushed forward in a blur, his sword drawn.

"Wait hold up!" and with that, Naruto blinked forward, dispatching a group of Zetsu in the blink of an eye.

Explosions and squelches mixed in with screams could be heard for the following three minutes as they dispatched the Zetsu in groups at a time. Hundreds had fallen to their hands by the time they reached the third floor.

By their estimate, they had at least a hundred more floors to transcend.

The blasts caused by their signature techniques blew holes in the exterior, causing the raging blizzard outside to trickle in.

"No please!" one Zetsu cried as he was crushed with a single blow from Naruto, turning him into a tar-like mush.

Five floors in and they had just reached three hundred Zetsu total.

"Jeez, how many of these things are there?" Naruto cried out as his arm pierced straight through one of the Zetsus chest.

"Far too many for my liking," he said as he sliced one in two, spun around, and obliterated a small group with his Fireball technique.

"C'mon, let's pick up the pace!"

The moment Naruto uttered those words, the duo had started to clear out rooms in mere seconds, not even bothering to use the stairs afterwards and simply opting to pierce straight through the ceiling. Tens of floors were cleared at inhuman speeds, their competitive drive to outdo one another only adding fuel to the flames of this massacre.

Around floor thirty-two-ish, they lost count.

By the time they reached the top, they were still rearing to go. Standing before them was a pair of metallic doors not unlike the ones used for the entrance. Mimicking what he had done before, Sasuke kicked the doors clean off their hinges and darted inside with Naruto following suit.

The room around the size of the rest, that is, somewhat large and was only briefly illuminated by Naruto's chakra cloak before it died down. There was a stone alter situated at the center of the room and it held two objects, a purple orb, and a blue one delicately placed within the indents carved out for them. The walls had a design that wrapped around the room, however, the duo only caught a brief glimpse before the light faded away.

Surprisingly, only a single Zetsu was present within this room, and this one was mostly solid, unlike the rest.

Sasuke shot forward and lifted the being off the ground by its neck and slammed it into the alter, knocking one of the orbs onto the ground and cracking it slightly. He ignored this and applied pressure to his grip.

"So, since you haven't turned to mush like the others, I believe it's safe to assume that you're the real Black Zetsu."

"Damn yo- ack!"

"Might wanna let up there Sasuke."

Sasuke dropped the feeble being onto the ground and pointed his sword at it, thus causing it to panic and crawl up against the altar, in fear.

"I'm going to ask you a couple of questions," he began, his Sharingan flaring to life, "and you're going to answer them, do you understand?"

"I have nothing to say to you!"

Naruto, meanwhile, had since re-entered chakra mode to illuminate the room. The designs on the walls caught his interest.

"So, the Zetsu we sealed away with Kaguya, was that one of your clones?"

"It was."

"And the one that manipulated our ancestors and caused countless problems in our world, was he also a clone?"

"A clone, he was. Is that all, Uchiha? Your rancid scent is violating my nostrils!"

"You're awfully annoying."

Naruto narrowed an eye at the drawings that wrapped around the walls, noting that they looked somewhat like landmasses of some sort.

"What is the purpose of this tower? Who built it? Why are you here?"

"The purpose of this tower?" the creature asked, gaining a thoughtful look on its face. "That's an easy one..."

"Explain."

"BWAHAHA! Oh, that's RICH! You expect ME to tell YOU shit about ANYTHING after what you did to mother? That dumb look on your face is absolutely pricele- AH- AHHHH!"

Naruto glanced over just in time to see Sasuke draw his sword from the Zetsus shoulder, then turned back to face the wall. "Hey Sasuke, this stuff on the wall. Doesn't it look a bit like a map of some kind?"

"A map, to another world," the Zetsu commented in a sage-like manner, only to get stabbed in the other shoulder. It let out a shrill cry as he fell on his side, grasping its arm in pain.

"I didn't say you could speak."

"Curse you!"

"Now, answer me this before I send you to the grave. Just how many of you are there?"

"Fuck you."

"That's all I needed to hear," Sasuke said before shoving the blade through the Zetsu's chest. Upon retracting his sword, it fell to the ground, its body stone still."

Naruto approached the altar and pushed his foot against the body, causing it to tumble onto its side. "A bit harsh there, don't you think?"

"Sorry, but its a bit hard to be kind to the very creature that's responsible for countless atrocities, wars, and the very cycle of hatred itself. He deserved no mercy."

"I agree with ya there but..." he looked at the body, "we could've gotten more out of him, ya know?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Probably."

Naruto glanced over to the altar, and tilted his head. "Whats that?" he asked, grabbing the purple orb.

"Reckless idiot," he commented.

"What? It's harmless, see?" he said as he tossed it up and down like a baseball. "I wonder what it's for?"

Sasuke took hold of the orb and, based on a hunch he had, peered at it with his Rinnegan.

"Anything?"

"Nope."

"Huh... weird. Hey, wait... weren't there two?"

"No clue. C'mon, let's check out the rest of the tower," Sasuke said, pocketing the orb.

The two had just barely stepped out of the chamber when the sound of a voice graced their ears.

"Not so fast..."

Naruto and Sasuke spun around to face the alter, and to their surprise, the Zetsu stood, alive and well. It cackled madly, eliciting concern from the duo.

"I thought I killed you."

Naruto approached the alter cautiously. "Should've just went for the head," he said, noticing the blue orb the creature grasped in its hand.

"It'll take FAR more than that to kill me!"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, then to the Zetsu.

"Now..." he began as he lifted the hand that held the orb.

Sasuke shot forward, blade poised for the Zetsus forehead. The sword pierced straight through its skull, causing the creature to scream, and then go silent.

There was a moment where not a single noise was made, not even the raging blizzard outside could pierce through the stone walls of the chamber. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and went to retract the blade, when the creature's eyes opened, startling the man.

Black Zetsu chuckled, "Fool, you can't kill me."

Sasuke jumped back, recalling the fate that Madara had met all those years ago, and retracted his blade.

The sound of glass shattering sounded throughout the room as dozens of tiny blue shards fell at Zetsus feet. Before they could react, a blast of energy sent the occupants of the room back, slamming them into the walls behind them.

Sasuke recovered first and looked at Naruto. "You alright?"

"I think so."

They looked up, noting now that the walls had begun to glow a bright blue-ish color, and that a low humming noise was sounding throughout the tower.

Naruto pushed himself to his feet and looked around. "What's going o-"

Before he could finish, the duo felt a powerful force rip them from where they stood. Looking up, they saw the source of this power, a rift similar to the one Sasuke used to bring them to this dimension in the first place.

It being so narrow, caused the two of them to slam into one another, hard.

They blacked out and the rift closed, leaving behind a ruined tower infested with the black ooze of the Zetsu clones. A chilling silence swept through the structure as darkness fully claimed it.

Zetsu stood from behind the altar, having taken hold of it to avoid being pulled in, and cackled wildly.

"Hehe... it seems... I won't have to dirty my hands after all," the creature muttered. "Mother... soon... just wait a little longer."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A World of Wonder (Naruto)**

* * *

 **I: Day 1**

* * *

When Naruto awoke, he fully expected to find himself drifting amid an endless vacuum of darkness and void, he did not, however, expect to find himself comfortably tucked into a bed with the succulent aroma of bacon lingering in the air, teasing his nostrils.

He sat up and took a look at his surroundings. Based on the presence of a second bed, wide dresser and dual nightstands, he figured that he had somehow awoken inside of an inn of sorts. He breathed a sigh of relief, concluding that he was safely back in the Elemental Nations and out of Kaguya's crazy dimension.

That thought, however, posed a question in his mind. Where was Sasuke?

He groaned as the presence of a minor headache made itself known, and through running a hand through his hair, he discovered a nasty welt that had formed near the top end of the back of his head.

The door to the room opened and in walked a lady with a platter balanced on one hand, and a serving glass mug of orange juice in the other. At first, she looked shocked that he was awake, but then breathed a sigh of relief as she approached him. "Glad to see you've finally awoken." She set the first platter down at the nightstand closest to Naruto which held a breakfast plate consisting of eggs, bacon, and toast with a plastic cup on the side. She then set the glass mug down and gave the man a smile. "Master Yuri will be pleased to hear that you're alive and well."

"Master Yuri?"

"Oh forgive me, you must be terribly confused. Master Yuri Dreyar is the owner of this establishment. He's the sole proprietor of the property, having inherited the business after his father passed away."

"Oh, well... when you see him, tell him I said thanks."

"Actually, Master Yuri will be returning soon. I'll let him know that you've awoken once he arrives so you can thank him in person."

"Uh... alright."

With a bow, the woman walked out of the room, leaving Naruto behind in his bed, staring confused at the door. At least the people around here were friendly, now if he could just figure out where he was.

Deciding it best to wait for this 'Yuri Dreyar' to return, he opted to take the breakfast he had been served and got to munching.

A knock at the door caught his attention.

'That was quick,' he thought.

"Hey, you alive in there?" a man jokingly asked as he slowly opened the door and peeked inside. He was a teenaged fellow with a wavy/spiked style to his blond hair, his prominent eyelashes serving to accentuate his dark green eyes. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm ok... got a bit of a headache, but It'll pass."

"Yeah? You sure it ain't a concussion?" Yuri asked. When Naruto responded with a confused look, he continued. "You're lucky I came across ya while I was out treasure huntin pal. Me and a couple of friends were trudging through an old ruin not too far from here when he came upon a chamber with a big ole sunroof. We were just lookin around and next thing ya know, you come crashing in from the ceiling head first! How you didn't break your neck is a damn miracle if you ask me."

Naruto chuckled as he pulled himself out of the bed. "I'm a lot more durable then I look," he said as he grabbed his head and violently shifted it about, this causing a loud popping noise to emit throughout the room. "Oof..."

"That... can't be healthy," Yuri muttered as he walked over to the other side of the room and opened the closet. "By the way, I gathered up your stuff. You are one heavily armed guy, you know that?" he said as he grabbed a small bag sitting inside and tossed it over to Naruto who caught it with minimal effort.

Naruto opened the back and reached inside. There, various ninja tools lay scattered about.

"Huh... hey did you see a little pouch when you picked this stuff up?"

"Should still be attached to your hip," Yuri stated with a smile as Naruto brought a hand to where he typically kept it.

He gave an embarrassed laugh as he detached the pouch and began sorting through the tools. "Looks like everything's here," he said before looking up at Yuri. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it bud," he said, taking a seat on the bed adjacent to Naruto. "So, where you from?"

"The Hidden leaf," Naruto responded as he plucked kunai after kunai from the bag. "You know how far that is from here?"

"I can't say I've ever heard of it. You from out of the country?"

"Out of the country? Uh... where are we again?"

"Well, you're in my inn! Finest in Hargeon town I might add, and ranked twentieth out of all the other inns in Fiore."

"Hargeon... Fiore... sorry, none of those names ring any bells."

"What? Jeez dude, you really must've loosened something up there when you hit the ground. You've probably just got amnesia. I hear that clears up after a bit of time."

Naruto considered the possibility for a moment but eventually dismissed it on account of the fact that he could still recall what he had for breakfast yesterday. After giving it some more thought, and noting that he also recalled his name as well as the events prior to his awakening, he shook his head. "No, that can't be it."

"By the way... I never got your name?"

"Huh? Oh haha, sorry about that, I'm just a tad confused here is all. The names Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Cool, Yuri Dreyar here, though you probably already knew that," the man said as he sat up and started toward the door. "You're free to stay here as long as you need to, to recover. I'm headin out, feel free to wander around Hargeon, the people here are friendly and there's plenty of great places to catch a bite to eat. If you need money, I left you a thousand jewel in your bag. Should be enough for a decent meal."

Naruto's eyes widened like saucers as he said this. Had he heard him correctly? A THOUSAND jewels? He wondered.

The moment Yuri exited the room, he began to dig through the bag until he stumbled across the so-called 'jewel' he had been given. It was ten paper notes, each worth a hundred jewel. This set off a red-flag in Naruto's head as he had never once visited a place that didn't use Ryo as its form of currency.

He glanced out the window nearby, jewel notes still clasped in his hand, and whispered to himself, "Where... am I?"

After a while, he felt well enough to head out, figuring that Kurama would have already tended to any wounds he may have sustained from his alleged fall.

He made a mental note to speak with the old fox later.

Naruto emerged from the inn and was immediately met with the harsh rays of the sun looming overhead. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he was met with a particularly pleasant sight. The town was composed mostly of stone, from the roads to the buildings, and appeared to be a rather bustling place. Civilians took to the sidewalks, each either minding their own business or having conversations here and there, and carts being pulled along by horses rode through the streets.

The town had that peculiar fantasy vibe about it that Naruto had only ever imagined from the admittedly few story books he's ever read. As he looked on in wonder at the town, he felt something smash into the side of his arm, followed by the prompt squeal of a female.

Naruto looked over to see a rather young girl hardly twelve years in age, sitting on her rear and massaging her forehead. She had blond hair with a shade more or less resembling his own and wore it mostly down with a portion of the back left side of her hair, tied into a ponytail. Bizarrely, something about her reminded him of... well, himself. On top of her tomboyish appearance which consisted of a basic pair of boots, pants, and a plain white T-shirt with a jacket tied around her waist, she also sported a pair of goggles closely resembling the ones he wore in his youth.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he extended an arm.

The girl groaned, looked up, and glared at him. "Hey, watch where you're going, pal! You can't just go bumping into people willy nilly!"

"You're the one who bumped into me!"

The girl sat up, ignoring Naruto's gesture of kindness and pointed at him. "I'd apologize if I were you. I'm well on my way to becoming the next head of my clan, so you'd better respect me!"

"Look here girly," Naruto said through clenched teeth as he knelt down to eye level with the girl, this initiating a fierce staring competition. "I don't care WHO you are, I'm not about to just sit here and let some snot-nosed punk throw her weight around!"

"Oh yeah? And just what're you gonna do about it? Mess with me and I'll send Capricorn after you!"

Frankly having been fed up with the sheer amount of random names that had been thrown his way, he decided to relieve some frustration with a little fun. He lashed out at the girl, grappling her with a headlock, tightened his fist, and rapidly ran it across the top of her head, all with a shit-eating grin adorning his features.

"Not so tough now are ya?"

"Let me go ya jerk!"

Naruto complied, his grin still intact as the girl lunged out of his grip. She spun around and engaged in another glaring match.

Her glare intensified for a moment before ultimately settling into a toothy smile. "Heh, you know mister, you're all right!"

"Same with you kid! I like the goggles!" Naruto complied, a similar expression adorning his face.

"Really? Seems like you're the only one... my family and... well... just about everyone else doesn't really think they're cool or anything."

"No way! Those things are WAY cool, I actually used to have a pair of green ones myself."

"Ha! A fellow connoisseur of fashion I see," the girl said as she extended a fist.

"Your taste is impeccable," Naruto said as bumped fists with the girl.

And just like that, the most oddball friendship was born.

* * *

 **II**

* * *

At an establishment aptly named 'Restaraunt', Naruto and his new acquaintance sat, both enjoying a healthy serving of fish and rice.

"Julia huh?" Naruto said as he shoved a piece of fish into his mouth. "Ju-li-a Heart-fil-i-a."

"Yeah yeah, it rhymes, its a mouthful, 'WOW you're like royalty'," she listed, rolling her eyes as she did so. "I've heard it all."

Naruto grinned. "So, you're royalty?"

"I don't have any money."

"That's fine, I don't need any. I was actually going to ask, would you by chance know anyone who could show me how to get to the Hidden Leaf?"

"Hidden what now? Sorry, never heard of it."

"Oh," Naruto mumbled in defeat. "I know this is gonna sound weird, but where exactly are we? Country wise I mean."

"Country wise? What the- what'd you hit your head or something?"

"Yeah... how'd you guess?"

"This sounds like a long and complicated story."

"It is and to be honest, I'm not even sure what exactly happened."

Julia grew intrigued and leaned forward, planting an elbow on the table and resting her head upon her fist. "Sounds rough. Well, I guess I can start with the town. This here's Hargeon, a fair sized town where just about everything revolves around fishing. Its the go-to port for any newcomers to our kingdom, Fiore."

Naruto nodded, having already been given some of this information beforehand. "Anywhere I can find an Atlas?"

"Well, being a town full of sailors and fishermen, I'm sure you'll find one if you look hard enough."

"Got it," he said, swallowing a slice of fish. "So, what had you in such a hurry earlier?"

"Hmm? Oh, that... no reason really. I had a package to deliver that I... kinda broke when I ran into you."

"So that's what had you so riled up. Was that the box you tossed in the trash on the way in?"

Julia nodded.

"Well, what're you gonna do about it?"

"Probably just gonna go back to where I'm staying, go to sleep and forget about it. Then again... my rent is coming up in about a week... ahh, I'm leaving this place soon anyway!"

"You have one bad work ethic."

Julia deflated at his remark. "So I'm told. What about you, what do you do?"

"Nothing I can legally or publically state."

"O-oh..."

"Nah, I'm just kiddin! I'm a ninja, specifically, a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf village. My job is to... actually, come to think if it, I do a little bit of everything these days."

"Cool, I guess. Not sure what a ninja is though."

"A ninja is a person who... I'm sorry what?"

"I... don't know what a ninja is? I mean I do... but, like... that's your profession? Playing ninja?" she asked with a snicker.

"I don't 'play' ninja! Where I'm from, that's like the most respected line of work!"

"Right, sorry. I wasn't aware you came from a village of cosplaying weirdos."

Naruto shrugged. "Alright then, don't believe me."

The girl looked like she was about to respond when she spotted something through her peripherals and turned to face the window. She grew silent and slid into her seat as if attempting to obscure herself.

Naruto noticed then and glanced out the window, spotting two men fancily dressed in black suits who were coming this way.

"Crap," Julia muttered.

"Friends of yours?" Naruto asked.

"Hardly," she said as she walked over to the cashier desk. "Mind if I take the back door out?"

"I'm afraid we only give employees and management to access that do- hey!" the woman at the desk didn't get to finish as the girl simply jumped over the counter and started toward the back door.

Naruto curiously watched the girl bolt into the back area, he couldn't help but wonder what had her in such a hurry.

"Sir, was that your little sister?" the cashier asked.

Deciding it best to play along as to avoid any confusion, he nodded. "Yeah hehe... troublemaker ain't she?"

The woman glared.

"I'll uh... make sure she doesn't do it again?" he said nervously before he too hopped over the counter and ran into the back, in pursuit of the girl.

He burst forth from the buildings back door, finding himself in an alleyway just as Julia had finished scaling the building via the ladder adjacent to him. "Where you going?" Naruto called out, only to be completely ignored.

Naruto sighed and leaped up to the top of the building, noting that he felt somewhat funny upon landing. It was a tingling sensation circulating between his foot and ankle that emulated the feeling of being pricked with hundreds of tiny needles. He hesitated and glanced over at the area below, wondering just what that feeling was before looking over just in time to see Julia finish crossing the building and hop to the next.

In the blink of an eye, he darted forward, disappearing in a blur. Where he intended appear directly in front of the girl, he ended up faceplanting just behind her.

The feeling returned.

The sound startled her and she turned, glaring at the man. "What're you following me for?" the girl asked, crossing her arms.

Naruto didn't respond immediately as he was still shocked that he had somehow lost his footing. He pulled himself to his feet and sighed. "Well, call it a hunch, but I'm under the impression that those men in black are bad news."

"Er... well, not exactly _bad_ news... bad news for me but-."

"Lady Heartfillia!" one of the men in suits called out as he pulled himself over the edge of the building. "Cut off her escape!"

Naruto looked over just in time to see a group of men emerge from the other side and out of curiosity, offered a glance back in her direction, "These guys look like they mean business! Who'd you piss off?"

"No one! Err... well... my dad and mom but- look you gotta help me here! I don't wanna go back, I won't go back!"

"You aren't really giving me much to work with here," Naruto said only for his head to jerk slightly over as he felt a fist slam into his cheek. He looked over to see the man who had just assaulted him take a few paces back and brandish a silver key from his pouch.

 _Why couldn't I sense him?_

"Open," the man began as he held the key up, "Gate of the Watchdog: Cerberus!"

Naruto watched in awe as a silver circle materialized above the key. A flash of light blinded everyone who saw it for a brief moment and when it died down, a beast stood in its wake.

There, a bulky, three-headed canine with red highlights lining across its black fur appeared. It stood at a solid seven feet, with each head being about as large as an average adult human torso. The three heads took in a deep breath, then released it with a mighty roar that shook the building.

"What the hell is that!?" Naruto cried as he effortlessly swatted away one of the men who was trying to get the drop on him, having this time felt a slight break in the wind.

Julias jaw hit the floor when she saw out easily the man had been taken out. "Whoa," she mumbled, drawing a golden key from a pouch she held at her hip. "Take care of those goons over there will ya," she said, raising the key.

"Gotcha."

"I'll take care of this one. Open, Gate of the Goat: Capricorn!"

Similar to how the three-headed monstrosity was summoned, a glowing circle, this time gold, formed above the key. This time, the flash wasn't as blinding and was more of a spectacle if anything as pillars of light burst forth from the circle and merged together to take on a humanoid shape.

When the lights settled down, there stood a goat-man who was dressed similarly to their adversaries. The being known as 'Capricorn' glanced at the creature before him and sighed.

"Still running away, a-a-are we?" the being asked in a... goat-like fashion?

"Nows not the time Caprico!"

"Right," Caprico stated and slipped into a butler-esque bow.

Cerberus launched forward yet Caprico stood stone still. The moment he was within arms reach, Caprico tightened his fist and shot it forward, embedding it into the beasts middle head and sending it flying back towards its summoner in the most anti-climactic manner it could've possibly been in.

Cerberus roared as it slammed into its summoner, sending the man sprawling off the roof. The beast lay at the edge for a brief moment, took one look at Caprico, and with the rightmost of its three heads, it muttered, "Jeez Caprico... you didn't have to hit me so hard."

"My a-a-pologies," Caprico responded as he watched the beast slowly fade to light until nothing but empty space remained. "And with that, my duty is fulfilled."

"Thanks, Caprico, you're a lifesaver!" Julia said as she turned to face Naruto. "Now, let's finish off- HUH!?"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion before glancing back over at his 'work' which consisted of six unconscious bodies all piled atop one another. He gave an embarrassed smile and began rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, those guys? Hehe, yeah they were somethin alright!"

Julia was speechless at the sight but was able to accept the scene before her when she glanced over at the first guy he took out, who was still lying out cold near the edge of the building.

"Lady Julia, who might this be?"

"That's... a friend."

"I see, then my assistance is no longer required yes?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, thanks again Capricorn, " she said before dispelling the creature with a wave of her key and slipping back into the pouch on her hip. "You didn't tell me you could fight!"

"Never came up," Naruto said. "C'mon lets get outta here before they wake up!"

* * *

 **III**

* * *

After a while, the duo found themselves briskly walking down a road with a destination in mind. After their earlier encounter, Julia had since decided that it was best to skip town before more men showed up. The trip back to her apartment was done mostly in silence until Naruto decided to break the ice.

"So," he began as they rounded a corner onto another street, "Why were those goons after you?"

Julia looked down. "It's complicated."

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, still holding his questioning gaze. "You know, that goat thing from earlier mentioned something about running away."

The girl went silent for a moment. "Yeah..." she admitted. "I kinda ran away from home."

"Now why would you go and do a thing like that?"

"Because I-" she lashed out briefly but ultimately caught herself last minute.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her sudden response.

"Nevermind... it'll take way to long too long to explain," she said, narrowing her eyes at the man. "Especially to someone who doesn't even know the name of the country he's in."

Naruto grinned. "Well, you got me there!"

They arrived at her apartment shortly after their brief exchange. The door to her room had been violently breached and lay in a clump of splinters on the floor.

"This is the place?" Naruto asked, entering the building after Julia. "These apartments are pretty luxurious aren't they?" He said, deciding to put his new, kage-like vocabulary to work.

"Yeah, but the tradeoff is a ridiculous monthly rent! Seriously, hows any one person supposed to afford this shit and still have enough left for herself consistently?"

Naruto gave that notion some thought. Come to think of it, had it not been for the Third Hokage, he probably wouldn't have been able to afford his old apartment.

They entered her room and Julia immediately started toward the closet in resting in the corner of the room. Throwing it open, she reached inside and pulled out a few bags and tossed Naruto one.

"I'll get my clothes, you get my other stuff."

"Sure," Naruto said as she tossed the bag to him, catching it with a single hand.

He turned to her dresser and was immediately met with a framed picture.

The picture captured what Naruto assumed to be a family, a man, a woman, and a child. Both females in question bore a strong resemblance to Julia, so he felt it safe to assume that the young girl in her alleged father's hands was, her. The man in the photo appeared to be fondly smiling as his daughter rubbed her cheeks up against his and wrapped him in a tight hug.

'Must be happier times,' he thought as he placed the picture in the bag before she could notice. 'Hinata... Boruto... I'll be home soon, I promise.'

Packing took a grand total of ten minutes mostly due to the fact that Julia didn't own much to begin with. After a brief altercation with the manager, the duo set out toward the train station and remained mostly silent for the rest of the trip.

Upon arriving, they quickly entered the establishment and after Julia purchased her ticket, she and Naruto started toward the rails only to find that the train hadn't yet arrived. Upon locating a bench, they took a seat and sat in awkward silence for a solid minute.

"Y'know, since we're gonna be here for a bit-" Naruto began, only to get cut off.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"No, not that, although it would be nice to know what the deal is with those guys. I was actually more curious about those keys. Do those have a kind of summoning jutsu tied to em?"

"Jutsu?"

The sound of her confused tone at the single most universally used term back in the Elemental Nations caused Naruto's heart to drop.

"Well... if that's what they call magic where you're from, then yeah," she said, brandishing her key. "This here's one of the twelve Zodiac keys, the key of the goat."

"Magic huh?"

Julia crossed her arms and gave him a look. "Really? You don't even know about magic? Jeez, just how far out are you from?"

'A whole world away...' he thought. "No clue to be honest."

A loud whistle and the screeching of wheels against the rails signaled the arrival of the train. Upon seeing this, Julia sat up and started toward the train doors with Naruto following slowly behind, stopping just at the doors.

Upon noticing this, Julia spun around and with a nervous chuckle and asked, "Hey um... you wouldn't mind... coming with me would you? Just for a bit, I get the feeling that the guys from before won't be too far behind me from here on out."

Naruto shook his head apologetically. "No can do, I've gotta focus on finding a way home."

"Right... sorry I asked."

"No biggie," Naruto said, flashing his signature grin. "Hey, seeing as I'm probably gonna be around here for a while, we'll probably meet again somewhere down the line, hopefully when you aren't getting chased by goons, but I'll keep my expectations low."

Julia scoffed. "What're the chances of that?"

"Trust me, I've got a sense for these things."

That reassured her somewhat. She went to respond only to form a shocked expression when she saw the fist Naruto had formed in front of her. Recognizing the gesture, she smiled, repeated the motion and bumped fists with her new friend.

"You take care now y'hear?"

"Y-you too..." she trailed off as she retracted her arm, allowing the doors to close, separating the two.

Seeing that she was safe aboard the train, Naruto started off with Yuri's inn in mind. He had hardly taken a few steps forward when he heard Julia's voice from one of the train car windows.

"HEY! Good luck finding your way home!"

"Yeah! And YOU stay out of trouble, ya hear?"

* * *

 **IV**

* * *

Naruto stopped at an alleyway somewhere along the way. He had gotten lost even after asking a plethora of people for directions, but no matter how many times they told him, "Six blocks down, right past the grocery store," he couldn't distinguish the grocery store from just about every other shop and, in some cases, even the residential buildings.

For all he knew, he could've long since passed up Yuri's inn.

Deciding it best to gain a vantage point, he glanced up at the building before him. He bent his legs as he typically did when prepping for a jump, took a deep breath, and focused his mind.

He felt the chakra circulate throughout his body and form a slight extra amount around his feet as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. He glanced up again and leaped. He made it ten feet in the air, only to find himself plummeting back onto the ground, back-first.

Naruto groaned and rolled over. Sitting up, he glanced back up at the building, gritting his teeth in frustration and narrowing an eye at the building. 'Why'd it work before?'

This time, he tried it as he had done before, shotgunning the jump instead of taking it slow. He was met with success.

He stood atop the building and glanced down at the ally below. What exactly did this all mean? He wondered. As that question circulated in his mind, it brought forth a ton of questions that he had formulated before. Was this one of Kaguya's dimensions? Why was he sent here? What the hell is magic? How was he supposed to get home? All of these and more, but one in particular concerned him most.

Where was Sasuke?

 **"Naruto,"** the voice of the fox roared within his mind

"Kurama?" he responded out loud after figuring that no one could hear him. "Boy am I glad to hear a familiar voice."

 **"Don't use any chakra."**

The foxes' sudden response caused Naruto to gain a questioning look. "Does this have something to do with what happened just now?"

Naruto took a seat where he stood, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. Deciding it best to speak with the fox directly, he entered his mindscape.

Now, within his mind's eye, he stood within the massive flooded passageway that served as the lair of the Nine-Tails. The beast stood before him, sat on its hind legs, its tails flowing gracefully behind him. "So what's the deal?" Naruto asked.

 **"Right about now its just a theory, but ever since we've arrived in this world, I've been feeling a bit... funny. There's something about the air in this world, something that doesn't quite mix with chakra."**

"Yeah? So how're you feeling then, being a construct of chakra and all?"

 **"Not good. I feel... nauseous."**

"Anything I can do about that?"

 **"Don't worry about me, I just needed to tell you something. Naruto, if I were you, I'd just avoid using chakra altogether but if push comes to shove, I'd recommend using only the basics."**

"Not sure how much that'll help. It seems like even my basics are a bit gimped as a result of whatever's clashing with our chakra. Come to think of it... I don't think I can utilize my full speed anymore."

 **"Yes, there are many things you do where you subconsciously exert chakra, such as sticking to the ground after a high burst of speed or even performing basic evasive maneuvers. Try to keep chakra use to a minimum... perhaps find a weapon that could suit your needs?"**

"A weapon huh..."

 **"Well, if you don't mind, I'm gonna rest before I start projectile vomiting from all this spinning. Take care, Naruto."**

"You too, Kurama. And let me know if somethings wrong alright?"

Kurama nodded and rested his body forward. **"Oh and, before I drift off. Try not to sustain any _open wounds_ while you're here. We don't want whatever it is that's creating these problems getting into your body and seeping into your chakra network."**

"Err... what about breathing."

"You'll be fine. The respiratory system isn't directly connected to your chakra network."

"I'll keep that in mind," Naruto said as he exited his mindscape, allowing the fox to fall into a deep slumber in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Lonely Soul of Tenrou (Sasuke)**

* * *

 **I: Day 1**

* * *

The air felt different here.

That was the first thought going through Sasuke's head as he glanced around at his surroundings. He was lucky to have landed on his back, granted the fall he had just endured would have almost certainly killed a normal person no matter _where_ they landed.

The grass bore a unique yellow color to it that matched the leaves of the trees lying at the far ends of the clearing. Aside from that little tidbit, the area was rather plain and he couldn't discern where he was or where he could possibly be. The oceanic scent lingering in the air gave him an idea, however.

Sasuke sat up, wrenching his back around until he was granted a satisfying pop. He let out a sigh and called out, "Naruto!"

No answer.

"Hey, you out there?"

A strong, passing wind swept through the clearing, ruffling his cloak violently.

"Hmph," he muttered before starting toward a nearby tree, hoping to gain a vantage point. With a great leap, he found himself soaring high into the air, and landing atop the tree with ease.

A look of discomfort and unease crossed his features for split second before quickly fading away into his typical, stoic expression.

At the top, he was greeted with a scenic view of both a forest that stretched all the way to the shore, as well as an ocean horizon stretching as far as the eye could see.

Must be near a beach, he figured.

As he slowly spun around however, he discovered this not to be the case. He was in fact, stuck on an island, an island with a rather impressive tree growing at its center. This tree held his attention for a moment. How couldn't it? It was immense, its height was comparable to that of the mountain which bore the Hokage Stone Faces back home.

"Where... am I?" he muttered before jumping down from the tree, into the forest below. He started forward, deciding to pay the tree a visit. No doubt, a view like that would grant him a view of something close to the mainland.

That is... if it turned out that he wasn't actually stranded in the middle of the ocean.

* * *

 **II**

* * *

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration as he once again attempted to sprint vertically up the massive tree, each time failing miserably. The tenth and final time he attempted it, he glared up at the tree, his teeth clenched in frustration.

Why wasn't this working?

And it wasn't just this tree either, no it was ALL of the trees. Vertical surface walking just wasn't working well for him, it almost reminded him of his days as a genin. Which... he still technically was.

For a solid minute, he tried everything he could think of that wouldn't result in the entire island being reduced to ash. After all, if tree walking wasn't going to work, then water walking surely wasn't an option.

Basic clones, shadow clones, transformation, substitution, the chidori, trying to light a damn match with his fingertips. Nothing was working, in fact, the only thing he could manage to muster was a normal clone... and it wound up looking worse than Naruto's.

What the hell was going on? Why did only his high jump work and nothing else?

He was about to try the tree again, maybe even fry it out of frustration, when he heard a rustle from the bushes nearby. Acting out of instinct, he discreetly placed a hand on the hilt of his blade from beneath his cloak.

"Who's there?" he called out only to a see a girl peek out from the bush directly ahead of him. They made eye contact for a solid ten seconds before she slid back into the bush. 'You gotta be kidding me,' he thought in annoyance before approaching the bush. "Come out or I'll pull you out."

No response.

"Fine," he said, reaching into the bush only to feel something sharp clamp down on his hand. Sasuke comically wailed out in pain as he retracted his hand, finding a fresh set of teeth marks now embeded firmly in his skin.

For whatever reason, it hurt FAR more then it should have. Still, he held in the scream he wanted to let out and quickly reached into his pouch, feeling around his bag for a bandage to seal the open wound.

"You little..."

The girl popped out, a pointy stick in hand and a tin pan in the other. She glared at him and waved the stick in front of him as if attempting to ward him away.

"Begone trespasser!" she cried.

Sasuke shook his head as he finished bandaging hand. He felt some relief, allowing him to deduce that something in the air was causing the pain. The idea that it may have something to do with his inability to perform the most basic jutsu lingered but was quickly pushed to the side for the moment.

He still had this little pest to deal with.

"I-I said get outta here!" the girl cried. "I'm warning you, if you don't leave right now I'll-"

Sasuke took a good look at her. She was short, standing at hardly waist height and had a slim frame, that much he could discern as her dress flowed with the wind. Her eyes were a pale green color, odd considering the bright and optemistic vibe they gave off, and her wavy hair which fell just below her waist, was a blond color that gave off a faint glow under the sunlight.

"Relax," he began, attempting to keep his cool despite the lingering pain in his hand. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Yeah right, last time this island got visitors, it resulted in a complete massacre!" she retorted, raising the pan. "And don't even try to play dumb, you're here for the Tenrou Jade, aren't you?"

"Tenrou what?"

"There you go again, playing dumb! Why else would you come to this island if not to steal its most sacred treasure?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, or where I am for that matter. If you could provide me that much information... maybe a boat-"

"Take the one you came in."

"I didn't-" Sasuke took a deep breath. "I didn't come in a boat."

"How you got here doesn't matter, so long as you skidaddle back to the main land, we won't have any problems."

"Let me speak to your parents," Sasuke said, completely ignoring her demand.

"I um..."

"What... no parents?"

"S-shut up!"

Sasuke sighed. An orphan, he certainly knew the type, after all, he both was and was best friends with one.

"Last chance or I'll-"

"You'll what?"

"Er..."

"Exactly," he said as he walked over to her and gently relieved her of her 'weapons'. "I just want to talk. I need you to tell me some things and I'll leave this island forever in turn, deal?"

"This isn't about the jade is it?"

"Like I said, I don't even know what this 'Tenrou Jade' is, nor do I care about it in the slightest. I just want to talk."

"Oh, well then," she said, her mood immidiately perking up. "I'm Mavis by the way... and sorry about the hand." She extended an arm, open palmed.

Sasuke cautiously returned the gesture. "Sasuke."

"I know a place we can talk, it's a bit chilly out don't you think?'

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her sudden willingness to speak with him. Wasn't she just trying to kick him off the island a minute ago?

"Sure."

"Great! C'mon, it'll nice to finally have someone else to talk to! My friend Zera'll be thrilled too!"

* * *

 **III**

* * *

The small town she led him too was barren and, in almost every sense of the word, a ghost town. The hollow homes that weren't in ruins howled as the passing wind flowed through its walls. He could almost hear the rustle and bustle of civilians going about their daily lives if he listened hard enough.

A fair trip down from there, a lone building lay secluded just off the main road that ran through the town. It was one of the taller buildings, dwarfed only by the main tower marked with a lizard-like symbol.

"Here we are, the library, A.K.A my favorite hangout spot! So, whatdoya think?"

Sasuke eyed the structure up and down, then started forward. "Looks a bit drafty."

Mavis puffed out her cheeks in frustration before pursuing the man.

When he entered the building, he found himself looking at a library that spanned numerous shelves teaming with books. Its grey stone interior matched its exterior, and light poured in from the windows a floor above, which also held shelves teaming with books.

"This is your 'hangout' spot?" he asked, approaching one of the shelves and eyeing the book spines.

"Can you think of a better place to be then your local library?"

"Several, actually, " Sasuke retorted as he slid a book from the shelve titled, '101 Ways to Fry Wyvern, Dragons Feast Edition'

"Thats a really good cook book there! Before, when our guild mages came back from missions, they'd sometimes bring exotic meat to the island! I remember having roasted wyvern with mom and dad a few times although the memory is a bit blurry."

"On that topic," Sasuke said, setting the book down on a nearby table, "why is this island so... empty? Where is everyone else?"

Mavis frowned. "You can thank Blue Skull for that."

"Blue Skull?"

"A dark mage guild, the rival of Red Lizard, the guild that used to frequent this island. They showed up one day outta nowhere, killed just about everyone, and burnt our homes to the ground," she said, her expression growing downcast. "It might sound like I was just skimming over things, but there really isn't much to it than that. Honestly, I still don't get why they did it."

"Sorry to hear," Sasuke said, momentarily pausing before speaking further. "I'm afraid the concept of dark mage guilds is somewhat foreign to me."

"Really? They don't have guilds where you come from?"

Sasuke shook his head. "We do, but they're far more mundane then what you've just described. Typically, a guild where I'm from gernally deals with a specific trade. Mercenaries and shinobi and... whatever a mage is, are not among these things.

Mavis tilted her head. "Weird," she commented, placing a hand beneath her chin. "I can't seem to recall any countries in Earthland that DON'T have mage guilds or mages for that matter! You must be from WAY out there, beyond the Western Ocean past Alakitasia."

"Alakitasia?"

"Continent way to the west of here."

Sasuke sighed. Mages, Alakitasia, Earthland, Blue Skull, Red Lizard, dark guilds... none of this was making any sense.

"You ok? You're spacing out there."

"I'm fine. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to spend some time in the library here. Any books you can recommend for say... information on Earthland?"

The apprehensiveness in his tone upon uttering the word 'Earthland' drew suspicion from Mavis. Still, the thought of someone being as much of a bookworm as she was granted a rush of excitement that prompted aid the man.

"Of course!" She stated happily before walking over to one of the shelves and gesturing him over. "Right here you can find all you need to know about the major kingdoms of the world. My personal favorite is that one!"

Sasuke walked over to the shelf and glanced at the book she was pointing to. He found it amusing that she couldn't actually reach the shelf.

"This one?" he asked, sliding the book from the shelf and eyeing the cover. "A Comprehensive Guide on the Hierarchal structure of Fiore... do you really read these?"

The girl nodded rapidly. "Yup, loved every bit of that one! It's so fascinating how a monarchy functions don't you think?"

"Got anything actually interesting."

"Hey... I thought it was interesting."

"Fine, anything simpler? Like a general overview on the world?"

Mavis squnted slightly. "Hmm... there might be something here..." she said, running a finger across the spines until she came across a one book in particular. "Aha! 'Earthland, A World of Wonder'. Its... a bit of a childrens book but the stuff in here is accura-"

"Good enough," Sasuke said taking hold of the book and flipping open to the first page. He took a seat at the nearby table from before and leaned back in his seat, his eyes glued to the pages.

"D-don't get comfy! Remember your promise!"

"I'm a man of my word."

Mavis frowned and gave a half-hearted sigh before starting out of the building.

Noticing this, Sasuke called out to her. "Where you going?"

"I... didn't want to bother you..."

Sasuke shook his head and closed the book. "Sorry, I guess that was a tad insensitive of me. In exchange for use of this library, is there anything in particular I can do?"

"Huh? Y-you don't have to-"

"I insist. Either you take up my offer now or I'll change my mind."

"Well... I'm a bit hungry-"

"I can cook."

"Thats not really the issue here," Mavis stated, chuckling nervously. "You see I'm kinda terrible at fishing-"

With that, Sasuke started out of the building with no destination in particular in mind.

"W-wait! Theres a good fishing hole I know nearby, lemmie show you!"

* * *

 **IV**

* * *

Sasuke cast his line from the fishing pole Mavis had given him. It was a peculiar thing, and was fashioned together rather well for what it was, that being a stick with a line running out the end of it. There was a surprising amount of effort and craftsmenship put into it, granted one needed to have a good amount of strength to use such a tool.

He started to realize just why Mavis wasn't so great at fishing.

"Sorry about the rod... all our good ones got taken when the island got raided. But I read a lot of books on craftsmenship and fishing, so it should be sturdy enough to catch even a moderately sized fish!"

"No doubt," Sasuke said, eliciting a smile from the girl. "Its well made, there was obvious care put into it."

"..."

"..."

"So... where did you say you were from?"

"The Elemental Nations," Sasuke answered, honestly.

"Hmm... can't say I've ever heard of it. To my knowledge, there aren't any 'Elemental Nations' on the map."

"I doubt you'll find it on ANY maps in this world."

Mavis chuckled nerviously. "You make it sound like you're from outer space or something."

Sasuke remained silent.

"Wait... are you really-"

Suddenly, Sasuke yanked the rod out of the water in an impressive display of reaction time and strength. There, hooked on the line was a gray scaled fish about two feet long, still flopping about.

"That was quick."

"Wow! I didn't even see it grab the line!"

He glanced at the fish who was still struggling on the line and grabbed its tail fin before unhooking it.

"Mmm..." Mavis moaned as drool began seeping from her mouth. "I haven't had fried Ishgarian Gray Bass in AGES! I can't wait to show Ze...ra... wait. Hey, Zera!" Mavis called out, only to recieve silence in response. "Huh... come to think of it, I haven't seen her all day!"

"You keep mentioning this Zera."

"Shes my best friend, and the only other person who survived the attack on the island with me. We've been together for so long... we're practically sisters!"

"That so?" Sasuke asked in his usual, flat tone before extending the fish toward the girl. "Alright then, feel free to take it."

"Er... can you um..."

"What?"

"You know uh... just give it a... lethal impaling?"

Sasuke nodded and reached into his pouch, sliding out a kunai. He held the creature up and shoved the blade into its head, killing it immidiately.

Mavis gagged slightly at the sight. "I never liked doing that you know?" she said, taking the creature by its tail. "Anyways... thanks for dinner! I'll get to frying it up right away."

"No worries, its the least I could do. Now... where-"

"That way," Mavis said, pointing in a direction.

"Right, thank you."

"No worries! Oh and, if you get lost, just wait around for a bit and follow the smell of roasting fish! The smell tends to carry all the way across the island!"

"Got it."

* * *

 **V**

* * *

On his way back to the library, he came across a peculiar thicket after straying ever so slightly from the path. Was he lost? No, not really. He simply decided to explore while that girl wasn't monitering him.

It wasn't that he was scared of her, she just gave him a rather peculiar feeling.

As he pushed through the dense bushes and low hanging branches, he found himself getting submerged deeper and deeper into the greenary. Eventually, he found himself in an area where there was little light coming in from the densely packed branches above.

Strange, he thought. This was the only place on the island, to his knowledge, that held this much green. Everwhere else from the view he caught earlier, mostly had yellow trees and grass. Even the foliage he saw tended to bear a shade closely matching that of the surrounding flora.

As he pushed on through, he stumbled upon a clearing. It was just about as dark as the rest of the area, and surrounded with foliage and trees.

One thing in particular held his attention. At the center of the clearing, beneath the only ray of light pouring in from above, was a stone with something sloppily carved into it. He approached the sunbathed stone and knelt down beside it.

What he saw sent shivers down his spine.

"What the-"

The words carved into it read, 'Rest in Peace, Zera. My one and only friend...'

Was he really seeing this? Was this a gravestone? More importantly, this Zera person, was Mavis not speaking of her as if she were among the living just a few minutes ago?

As he pondered on just what he was looking at, he felt a chill shoot through his spine. He could feel eyes on his back, yet when he turned to look, he saw nothing.

That's when he had an idea.

He blinked, allowing the Rinnegan in his left eye to flare to life. He was only able to get a brief glance at his surroundings before the vision in his eye went black, followed by a sharp pain that enveloped that whole half of his face.

He wanted to scream, but held it in, knowing his voice may very well carry across the whole island and alert Mavis to his whereabouts.

Upon dispelling his Rinnegan, he was met with instant relief and he collapsed to the ground, beside the grave. He took one look at the name, trying to confirm what he saw. When he realized that he wasn't just seeing things, he got up and immediately started out of the clearing, eager to get the hell out of there.

It had occurred to him along the way, that he had completely strayed from the path at this point and had no idea how to get back to the library. The moment a sigh escaped his lips, the mouth-salivating scent of frying fish graced his nostrils. Deciding to take Mavis' advice from before, he started toward the direction of the smell.

Multiple questions had formed in his mind at this point, but there was one that stood chief among them.

Should he even bring this up with Mavis?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Treasure Hunters (Naruto)**

* * *

 **I: Day 2**

* * *

When Naruto came downstairs, into the main lobby of the inn, he was met by Yuri and two others. The first was a taller man with a larger frame then Yuri and the other individual. He had a rectangular head that extended vertically, ending in a spiky black afro. The other was a bit more 'normal-looking', although he had the look of someone Naruto tended to not mesh well with. His blond hair was slickly combed back and the lower half of his face was obscured by his collar.

"Sleep well?" Yuri asked.

"A bit. I uh... got a couple things on my mind right now so I didn't get much sleep," he said with a chuckle.

There was an understatement somewhere in that sentence. The fact of the matter was, he didn't sleep at all that night if the bags under his eyes didn't make that obvious enough.

"Sorry to hear. Anyways lemme introduce you to my pals. The big one is Warrod, and the gloomy one is Precht."

"Nice to mee ya," Warrod stated, eagerly extending a hand. "Guess you could call me the brawn of this little rag-tag group of ours."

"Nice to meet you too," Naruto said, accepting the gesture. He then glanced over at the man known as Precht, hand held out in a similar fashion. "I'm guessing you're the brains?"

Precht simply closed his eyes and turned his head away slightly.

Definitely not the kind of person Naruto tended to get along with.

Yuri smiled and slung an arm around the brooding man's shoulders. "Ahh, don't mind him. As you can see, he isn't exactly a morning person."

"If you don't mind," Precht began, unresting himself from Yuri's arm. "I'd like to get a move on before it gets dark."

Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the two, having seen a little bit of Sasuke and himself in their interaction. "So, where you three headed?" he asked.

"We're going treasure hunting overseas. I've got a lead on an S-class artifact on an island not too far from the shore," Yuri brazenly stated, eliciting stares from his two friends.

"An artifact huh?"

"Its none of your concern," Precht snapped before turning to Yuri. "You ought to be more mindful with your words. We just met this guy and you're over here telling him all our business."

"Yeah, yeah."

Naruto grinned. "Well, don't let me hold you up," he said, starting for the door. "By the way Yuri, thanks for the hospitality. Who knows where I'd be if you and your pals didn't come along."

"You're leaving?" the man asked.

"Yeah, I've spent way too much time here already," Naruto said.

"What's the hurry?" Warrod asked, curious.

"Well... it's kinda hard to explain but, long story short, I gotta get home as quick as possible. My wife and son are probably worried sick."

"You're married?" Yuri asked out of shock. "Er... sorry if I sounded rude just now, I didn't mean to-"

"Nah its alright. lemme guess, I strike you as more of a 'free spirit' yeah?"

"You must get that often," Yuri said.

"More then I'd care to admit actually," Naruto chuckled. "Anyways, thanks for everything!"

"Right. You take care now, Naruto. Feel free to swing by whenever you're in the neighborhood."

Naruto didn't quite know how to respond to that, seeing as he had no intention of returning to this world in the future. Despite this, he gave a half-hearted nod and opened the front door.

As he was about to step out, he found himself staring face to face with a small group of what looked like soldiers of some kind. They wore baggy blue and white robes with a strange cross-like symbol printed on their chests and each of them held a staff with a blue crystal attached to its end.

"We're looking for Yuri Dreyar," one of the men said.

At this, Yuri came outside, a guilty smile present. "Hey there hehe... look I know what this is about-"

"Save it, Dreyar," the man who Naruto now assumed was the captain, snapped. "You haven't paid your dues."

"I know but look, I've got a lead on-"

"We don't need to hear your excuses, Mr. Dreyar," the captain said, pointing his scepter at the blond. "This is your final notice. Either you pay up within three days, or this building and all of your valuables become the property of the council."

"Y-yesir."

Satisfied, the men turned around and marched off in a dignified formation, leaving behind a nervous Yuri and a confused Naruto.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked.

"Rune Knights." Yuri let out a distressed sigh. "I'm... kinda in debt here. The inn makes money sure but..."

"But Yuri here tends to blow through more money going on treasure hunts then he can afford," Warrod commented, emerging from the building with a wide grin on his face.

"Hit the nail right on the head," Precht stated following just after Warrod. "Best part is, more often than not, we come back empty handed."

Naruto crossed his arms, gaining a thoughtful look as he did so. Hinata and Boruto were almost certainly worried out of their minds right about now and he needed to get back home as fast as possible. However, it wasn't in his nature to just abandon someone in need, especially if that person had potentially saved his life.

"Anything I can do to help?"

Yuri brought a hand to his chin, contemplating something for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, this isn't your problem. Besides, if this lead on the treasure is correct, I should have more then enough money to pay off my debt AND retire to a life of luxury."

Naruto gave him a look. "And if it isn't? What if you don't find anything?"

"Err... well-"

"Then he goes to prison," Precht bluntly stated. "Honestly Yuri, we're willing to help you raise the funds be it through labor or other means. However, risking your livelihood on nothing but rumors-"

"But I've got a good feeling about this one!"

"Ain't that what'chu said bout' the temple? Something about a staff that could fetch us ten million jewel, easy?"

"Uh..."

Naruto shook his head. "Hey, hows about this. I want to repay you for all you've done for me, so just tell what I can do to help and I'll do it."

Yuri shoved his hands in his pockets and let out a breath. There was a brief moment of pure silence that followed that was eventually broken when he suddenly gained an optimistic smile. "Hey... what say you help us uh... procure a sea-worthy vessel?"

"You didn't get us a ship?" Precht asked out of frustration.

"I did... er- kinda? I took out the loan for us to-"

"YOU TOOK OUT A LOAN WHILE YOU'RE NECK DEEP IN DEBT!?" the three cried in unison.

"Yeah... not my best decision."

"Something about you... reminds me of a certain old granny I know," Naruto commented. "So you want me to steal you guys a ship?"

"Hey, hey! We aren't stealing it, we're-"

"I can do that."

The treasure hunters looked at him like he was crazy.

"No really, I can get us a ship if you guys want. Shouldn't be too hard seeing as this town is mostly just sailors and whatnot."

"Sailors are some of the toughest sons of bitches out there," Warrod said. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you."

"Well I'm not gonna say I'm exceptionally tough or anything, but I AM pretty resourceful. I'll figure something out, you guys just gotta stand at the ready for when we take off. Besides, this way you can refund that loan... if that's how that works around here at least."

Yuri shook his head. "Hey look, I was mostly joking when I said-"

"Mostly. That's good enough for me!" Naruto said as he started off down the street. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got planning to do. Meet me by the docks at around... midnight?"

"Wait Naruto, we didn't agree to- he's gone," Yuri said, deflating in defeat.

"Well, either way, you're going to end up in prison if things go wrong," Warrod said as he walked back towards the inn. "At least this way you have a chance."

"Where you goin?" Yuri asked.

"Inside. Gonna catch a few winks before we head out."

"So we're really going through with this then..."

"I don't see you having much of a choice," Precht said before following after Warrod. "Just remember Yuri, if this backfires and it turns out he's untrustworthy-"

"I'm surprised you're actually going along with this," Yuri interjected.

"I'm apprehensive about the whole situation, yes."

"Yeah?" Yuri said, before turning toward the direction Naruto had departed on. "There's something about him don't you think? He just seems like a trustworthy dude... if a bit reckless."

"Like you?"

"Hehe... guess we have a lot in common huh?"

Precht rolled his eyes and entered the inn without another word with Yuri following close behind.

* * *

 **II**

* * *

Mightnight came and Naruto had just about finished setting up for the job. It didn't take much mental prep for him to eventually go through with the whole idea, he wasn't planning on sticking around in this world for long anyway.

What was one teensy little crime?

Naruto glanced at the patrol of Rune Knights passing by from behind a stack of crates. When the coast was clear, he stepped out of his hiding place and glanced around, eventually spotting Yuri and co. casually strolling onto the docks.

He made eye contact with them, then made a hand gesture to the boat he intended to steal. They nodded and made their way over to him as quickly as they could.

"So, what's the plan?" Yuri asked.

"I already got everything rigged so you can get outta here as quick as possible. I already cut the ropes holding it so all that's really holding it in place now is the anchor. You guys pull that up, do whatever it is you need to do to get this thing moving, and you're outta here!"

"What about the magic pulls holding it over the incline?" Precht asked. "You did disable those didn't you?"

"Uh... were those the blue circle things floating around in the water? Then yeah I think... I found a crystal thing," Naruto paused to pull the object from his pocket and hold it up. "I pulled it out of its pedestal over there and the circles disappeared."

Precht nodded.

"And what about you?" Warrod questioned.

"Me? Well, I'm just gonna start some commotion over there and get the attention of those guards and... just about the whole town in general! You'll know when to set sail."

"I'm surprised you aren't coming with us," Precht said. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Precht!" Yuri shout-whispered.

Naruto gave an amused smirk. "If you didn't trust me, then why'd you tag along in the first place?"

Precht went silent at that remark.

"Alright you three, you get up there and be on your way once I get the attention of those guards," Naruto said as Precht and Warrod climbed aboard the vessel. Noticing that one of the trio had been left behind, he asked, "What's up?"

Yuri frowned. "You sure about this? Don't you have a wife and kid to get home too?"

"I'm headed straight there once I'm in the clear here. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! It might come as a shock to you, but I used to be a bit of a troublemaker way back when. Guess you could say I'm a 'master of evasion' or something like that!"

"Alright... but if you go and get yourself arrested, don't expect us to bail you out," Yuri joked, eliciting a chuckle from his fellow blond.

"No worries! I just hope you three have a good plan for when you come back to the mainland with a stolen vessel."

"I've already got that covered."

Naruto nodded. "Alright, now head on up there and get ready."

"Right."

Naruto watched as Yuri climbed aboard the ship. When the three glanced over and gave him a thumbs up, he gave a quick nod and made himself known to the guards.

"You there!" one of the Rune Knights said as they approached him. "This area is off limits at the current time of the day. If you have business here, then either come back tomorrow or show your permit."

"Permit? No one told me about any permits."

"No permit, no entry, now get out of here!"

"Hey now, we're all friends here right? I just wanted to take a look around is all."

"You are trying my patience, peasant!"

"Peasant? I don't wanna hear that from guy who dresses like he's getting ready for a circus act!"

"What did you say?" the man said, tightening his grip on his staff, electricity circling around its crystal tip

"Er... did I say circus act? I meant-" without thinking, in a foolish display of sheer bravery that sent the jaws of everyone watching crashing into the floor, Naruto decked the man with a single blow to the jaw with enough force behind it to cause the man to perform a complete 360. The moment his body hit the floor, Naruto bolted.

This wasn't something he did on the fly either. No, he planned this after deeming his ninja tools too precious/dangerous to use for this situation.

'Shit... I can't believe I just did that!'

 **'You absolute moron...'**

From the boat, Yuri bumped at the air with his fist. 'Nice!'

'That was one hell of a left hook!' Warrod thought with a grin.

Prehcht sighed. "We're all going to jail."

"AFTER HIM!"

Yuri and the others watched as the Rune Knights gave chase into the town. Warrod gave the area a once over, and when he concluded that they were in the clear, they hoisted the anchor and released the sails.

"We're actually going to get away with this," Yuri muttered in disbelief. "Ha! You're one hell of a guy Naruto!"

"Keep your voice down Yuri, we aren't in the clear yet," Precht scolded.

"Right, c'mon lets get this thing up to max speed!"

"Aye, aye cap'n," Warrod said in a mock pirate voice.

Meanwhile, Naruto found himself causing all sorts of commotion. From tipping stands, shoving folk out of the way, and spitting on just about any guard that he passed by, he was slowly but surely gaining the full, unbridled attention and rage of the local police force. All was going according to plan, and plus he felt about thirteen years younger!

Was this reckless of him to do? Yes, very much so. Did he feel somewhat bad about what he was doing, being such a self-proclaimed do-gooder? Yeah, a bit. Was he having more fun then he had, had in over a decade? Yes, yes he was.

It had occurred to him somewhere along the way, that after all that time he had spent prepping the ships getaway, he hadn't actually thought to plan an escape route ahead of time. He had led them on quite the chase deep into the town, this naturally drawing more guards to the scene then he would have liked, and things were starting to look hairy.

When he saw the angry mob that had formed behind him, he decided that he should finally disappear and sprung himself upward, intending to take to the rooftops. Unfortunately for him, even after shotgunning the jump like before, his chakra had failed him and he ended up smashing into the side of a building, face-first. Currently, he found himself trapped in an alleyway, surrounded on all sides by Rune Knights.

"This isn't good."

"Surrender now or you WILL be apprehended by force," one of the men demanded as he aimed his staff.

"C'mon now, it was just a harmless little prank!"

The electricity from the staff crackled, showing Naruto that they had no intention of backing down. In response to this, he slid into a fighting stance, daring them to try.

The man lunged forward, electricity forming around the edge of his staff. Naruto sidestepped it and plucked the staff from his hands, shoving the back-end of the staff into the man's face, then, while in full control of the staff, shoved the crystal into his chest sending a jolt of electricity straight through his body.

 **"Ease up, Naruto. Just because this isn't our world, doesn't mean you can go hurting folk willy nilly!"**

"I-I know that! Do you think I WANT to do this?"

Two men followed suit and were met with the same fate. One after the other they tried, each falling prey to the same tactic and, on occasion, even being baited into shocking their fellow comrades.

 **"Don't play dumb with me! You and I both know that you've been ITCHING for a real fight for ages now!"**

"I uh... alright fine! But I still didn't have any intention of fighting these people!"

 **"Well, you should've thought about that before you went and clocked a cop! You should've just went with the smoke bomb."**

Just as it looked like he had begun to thin their ranks, another Rune Knight would take the place of each one that fell.

"Shit."

He readied a staff, his eyes darting from foe to foe, only for an intense pain to rise up from his back, and his body to be engulfed with electricity. He fell backward, glancing up at the rooftop to see four men powering down their staffs.

Seeing that he was still conscious, one of the knights immediately approached him, the blunt end of his staff poised to his face.

"C'mon please work, please work!" he chanted as he clasped his hands together, closing his eyes.

"You're through!" the man said as he thrust the back end of his staff downward.

There was a clash, followed by an eerie silence that piqued Naruto's curiosity. He opened his eyes, finding that there was now a person standing between him and the Rune Knight with a silver staff in one hand that he was using to shield the blow.

Something about him struck Naruto as familiar. The short, blond hair, the pronounced eyelashes, thick eyebrows and green eyes he could vaguely make out from the side view he had of his face.

That's when it hit him. "Yuri!? I thought I told you I'd handle this!" Naruto cried, pushing himself to his feet.

"What? Bud, I don't even know you! Plus, I just saved your ass so you ought to be thanking me instead!"

"What are you talking about? We were just- nevermind. Got a plan?"

The Yuri doppelganger smiled before reaching into his pocket. "Hold your breath!"

"My breath? What for?"

"Just do it!"

Naruto complied, seeing as he had no other choice. He glanced up, noticing that the Rune Knights were already charging up their staves for another shot.

"Whatever it is you're planning-"

With a bright flash, and an audible *bloop* they were gone, leaving behind dozens of confused and furious Rune Knights in their wake.

* * *

 **III**

* * *

Back on the boat, the trio had just made it a ways away from land. Thankfully for them, the wind was in their favor and they had made it a fair distance from the shore undetected.

At least to their knowledge.

Warrod cheered, seeing as they were now far enough to do so. "WHOO! I can't believe we pulled that off!"

Precht shook his head, a smile having formed hidden beneath his collar. "I must say, I'm rather shocked. Frankly, I think I owe that man an apology."

"You got that right," Yuri said with a grin that slowly began to fade.

"What's wrong?" Warrod asked.

Yuri shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Hey now, I'm sure he made it outta there. Did you see how fast he was running?"

"Yeah but... you know how the Rune Knights are."

"Come now," Precht began, "Where's that optimism?"

Yuri glanced back over to the shore, frowning all the while. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone horribly wrong but it was far too late to turn back now. Deciding to play it off, he flashed his companions a smile. "Yeah, you guys are right. We ought to hope for the best! Alright, boys, next stop, Tenrou Island!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: A Fellow Interloper (Naruto)**

* * *

 **I: Day 2**

* * *

The grassy, open plains of the field stretched for miles just outside of Hargeon with nary a soul in sight. The long, windy, dirt roads were mostly undisturbed on this particular, moon glazed night, for there simply weren't many travelers coming in and out of Hargeon at this hour.

The serenity of the scene was quickly broken when a blue rift opened up seemingly out of nowhere along the road. Two bodies materialized in the air, Naruto, and the man who bore Yuri's likeness.

They blinked, finding themselves defying gravity for a split second, before being sent plummeting to the ground, back-first.

Naruto groaned as he sat up. "Talk about a rough landing."

"You're welcome," the man said, pushing himself to his feet. "Jeez, you folk are rude around these parts! A guy risks his life to save your ass, and all you can do is complain!"

"Whoa, slow down there bud, I was just a tad surprised is all. You just happen to look a helluva lot like a certain treasure hunter I just met."

"Yeah... which is weird because I sure as hell'd remember a rude asshole who's completely inept at showing his gratitude! And what's this about a grave robber?"

'This... definitely isn't the Yuri I know," Naruto thought before responding. "What's got you all worked up?"

"JUST SAY IT!"

"Thanks."

"Good! Ahhh, it feels good to be thanked, don't you think?"

"Uh-"

The man extended his arm to help Naruto up, his earlier animosity gone. "I guess you already know my name so I'll skip the introduction!"

Naruto hesitantly took the mans hand and pulled himself up.

"So, what's the deal? Not many people would incur the wrath of the Rune Knights like that and expect to get outta that alive, especially these days!"

"Whadoya mean?"

The man shook his head. "Oh, Naive fellow... didn't you know the Rune Knights of Fiore are all as crooked as that side-ways council they serve?"

"Side-ways council... hold up, I'm a bit lost here."

"Ok bud, now you're really starting to piss me off."

'What's with this guy?' Naruto wondered as he sent a confused glance Yuri's way. "Ok, start from the beginning."

"Jeez! Were you not paying attention?"

That pushed Naruto over the edge. "Ok, you know what? I don't care if you think I'm batshit crazy or what, but I'm just gonna be straight with you. IM NOT FROM THIS STUPID WORLD CAPICHE!? I don't know how shit works around here!"

"Whoa, you too!?"

That threw Naruto for a loop.

"Nice! Never thought I'd meet a fellow citizen of Edolas out here!"

"W-what?"

"Edolas!" he cried, his tone growing bright once more. "You know, the place we're from? Look dip-shit, " he started, his tone suddenly darkening once again. "now I'm really starting to get annoyed! First, you go and be a rude piece of shit to me after getting your ass OUT of that situation, and now you're over here playing dumb. Jeez, I can't believe I'm wasting my time with you!"

The sudden and constant display of change in demeanor and mannerism gave Naruto a headache. Of all the people that he had to run into, it had to be one that was not only a from a different world like he was, but also shared Yuri's face, voice, name... and was apparently a complete weirdo with mood swings worse then a pregnant Hinata during her third trimester.

What luck.

"Well... thanks again I guess," Naruto began, as he started rubbing the back of his head. "Um so... how'd you do that back th-" he froze as he felt something well up in his chest. His eyes widened and he broke out into cold sweats as whatever was rising out of his throat reached his mouth. A stream of bile and saliva plus the small snack he had earlier, came shooting out of his mouth, onto the ground. "W-what the-"

"I told ya to hold your breath! Oh jeez, are you alright?"

"What the heck- BLARGH!" Naruto cried, spewing a stream of vomit on the ground. "What the heck happened!?"

In response, the man pulled out a small, palm-sized contraption shaped like a cube. "Tech from Edolas. This bad boy'll rip a hole through time'n space and send you two miles in a random direction on command... granted you have it fully charged. In turn, though, you gotta keep your mouth and sometimes your eyes, closed, if you don't, you'll breathe in so much compressed Ethernano that it'll give you runs for a couple days. Strange though, I've never seen someone vomit as a result of teleportation."

Ignoring the fact that he could very well have just screwed them over and sent them to the middle of the ocean two miles from the shore, Naruto pushed himself to his feet and shook his head rapidly. "Oh... wait- here comes another one!"

"Could you do it over there please!"

"BLARGH! Oh... man, that hurts... wait... did you say the runs?"

"Y-yeah?"

"God help me."

"Just go over there!"

"Where!? There're no trees or bushes around... what if someone walks by? And besides, how am I gonna wipe my ass huh!?"

"What do you suggest we do th- HEY!"

"NO TIME TO TALK!" Naruto shouted as he locked in a death grip on Yuri's collar. "We're going back!"

* * *

 **II**

* * *

Naruto really had to go, and Hargeon was the nearest place with restrooms. Thirty minutes of pure misery later, and he found himself back at the town, rushing into the nearest restaurant in order to let out a massive exertion of bodily waste with an intensity of near biblical proportions.

After an hour of nothing but pain, they were promptly kicked out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto pushed himself to his feet and let out a breath. "Man... that was a close one! These are the only clothes I have on me too."

"Yeah, yeah... could you please keep your distance? " Yuri said, following Naruto's example. "Now, can we get outta here, please? Man... why the hell'd I let you drag me here in the first place!"

"Better safe than sorry. If things went south, I'd like to have that cube of yours handy and I'd need someone to get me some clothes if... you know." Naruto said, shrugging. "You think anyone there recognized our faces?"

"Don't think so," Yuri shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced over his shoulder towards a small group of bystanders that were occasionally looking in their direction. "I imagine word spread throughout the town by now, but we were nowhere near here when we warped away."

"Well, they got a good look at our faces... probably best if we head out before-"

"Citizen, have you seen these fellows?"

Naruto and Yuri wrenched their heads over to a scene playing out nearby. A rune knight stood before a woman, two fliers in hand.

"Hmm... come to think of it, the one there looks familiar. Doesn't he own the inn over in eastern Hargeon?"

Yuri wanted to cry. "Great... the one place I decide to do something stupid in, and it just so happens, my face is already known throughout the town!"

Another civilian approached the scene and offered his two cents. "Hey, that's the guy who turned the restrooms into a quarantine zone!"

Naruto froze.

"Do you know which way they went?" the knight asked.

"Got that cube handy?"

"It needs to charge."

"Charge? What do you mean 'charge'!?"

"I can't just go using this thing willy nilly! Teleportation magic takes a ton of Ethernano to use, it'll take at least an hour of exposure to get it back up to working condition!"

Naruto glanced over his shoulder and saw that Rune Knights had already begun to flood the area. "Let's go," he said, starting off with a destination in mind.

Yuri followed close behind. "Where too?"

"The train station, we're getting the hell outta here."

"The train station!?" Yuri shouted in disbelief. "Don't you think-"

"YOU TWO," a commanding voice cried, "STOP!"

"Run!" Naruto screamed, already a solid twenty yards down the road, in the direction of the aforementioned establishment.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Yuri shouted, trailing hot on his tail.

The rapid thump of boots against the stone roads told the duo that they were being tailed by at least ten to twenty men with more joining in on the mob.

"Well, at least they're pretty slo-" Naruto shouted just as a bolt of lightening whizzed past his face, impacting with a nearby building and leaving a hole. Debris showered the street, and screams sounded throughout the area. "Holy shit!"

 **'Are you REALLY surprised by this? You did, after all, assault a random authority for no reason.'**

'There was a reason!'

 **'Don't play dumb with me. You and I both know that there was no real plan to begin with! Or at least, not a very good one.'**

'I panicked alright? Lay off Kurama!"

"Naruto, they're gaining on us!"

Naruto turned his head over and sure enough, Yuri was right, although not in the way he had anticipated. The knights had somehow sprouted wings and were pursuing from the sky at rapid speeds. Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky forcing the duo to use their arms to shield themselves.

"What the hell? Where'd they get those wings!?"

"Its Aero magic! We're done for!"

"Should we fight?"

"We'll get creamed!"

Naruto frowned and dangerously closed his eyes, putting him at risk of slamming into something at the speed he was going.

He toyed with the idea of trying out Kurama's chakra mode, or even Six Paths Sage Mode for a bit to try and fight his way out of this situation.

Then he remembered Kurama's warning.

He decided against it, and the thought of things going south, and him getting slain for putting up resistance was enough to derail that train of thought. He still had a family to get home to, and he'd like to return mostly in one piece if possible.

"Hows surrender sound?" Naruto asked.

"W-we can't!"

"Why not?" Naruto's tone softened slightly. "At least this way, we probably won't get killed."

"I told you, the Rune Knights are corrupt! The monsters they put in charge of the country are as crooked as they come, they won't grant us a fair trial! Hell, if we stop now, we might just get killed outright!"

And if they didn't stop, they'd surely get killed anyway. At the rate they were going, it wouldn't be long before they were caught.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and grabbed Yuri by his collar, immobilizing the man.

"Well, they're gonna catch us anyway," Naruto said, dragging the man closer. "Might as well maximize our chance of survival by coming quietly right?"

"W-why am I being dragged into this stupid plan?"

"Hold there!"

"We surrender officer," Naruto said, raising his hands into the air.

Men surrounded them on all sides, their staffs charged and ready.

"Naruto..." Yuri mumbled, nervously.

"Trust me."

"Approach with caution men, you are authorized to utilize force!"

"Oh, there's no need for that officers, we're gonna come quiet-" Naruto let out a gasp as pain erupted from the back of his head. He slowly closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall face first onto the ground and immediately be placed in bindings.

"W-wait... uh..." Yuri attempted to say only to be met with a similar fate.

Naruto kept his eyes closed, giving off the illusion of unconsciousness as he was hoisted onto someone's shoulder and carried somewhere.

"We have apprehended the culprits, commander," Naruto heard the man that was carrying him begin to speak.

"Fine work men, son of a bitch got me good."

'That was the commander!?' Naruto mentally screamed.

"Should we execute them?"

The jinchuriki held his breath.

"Not here," the commander began as he took his underling off to the side and whispered, "Actually... why not pay Blue Skull a visit in Magnolia town. Word on the street is they're looking for able-bodied slaves. Might be able to sell em off for a pretty penny."

"How much are talking here?"

"They'll go for a million jewel easy. Oh and... make sure to collar the whiskered one. After that display earlier, I'd feel safer if we have him restrained as soon as possible."

"Right."

Naruto felt the man start to walk off rapidly. The sound of hooves clattering against the roads and the squeak of a turning wheel drew closer and closer until the sounds had ceased.

"Here," a newcomer began as Naruto felt something cold and metal slide around his neck and lock into place. "If he acts up, use this to immobilize him."

Soon after this exchange, he felt himself get tossed into a wooden chamber of sorts before getting Yuri chucked directly at him shortly after. The sound of a door slamming shut prompted Naruto to finally open his eyes.

He glanced around, noting that the room was small with only a single, barred window directly above him providing the only source of light in the otherwise, pitch dark chamber. The metallic scent of blood, coupled with stains lining the wooden interior told him that this was a carriage meant for transporting prisoners, this belief was further reinforced when the room began to move.

Naruto sat up, pushing Yuri off of him who was completely unconscious. He stood and walked over to the door, taking care not to alert the guard who sat above the carriage, manning the animals that steered the vehicle along.

Upon reaching the door, he gave it a gentle push, finding the door to be reinforced with metal.

'So much for that,' he thought as he felt the collar around his neck. 'Better try and get this off,' he thought as he attempted to pull on the collar. A faintly audible *beep* sounded as a jolt of electricity was sent into his body. Naruto screamed as he fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

He looked up at the window, noticing now that another guard was peeking through the window, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Try that again and I'll crank this bad boy up a notch," the man said, flashing a remote with a blue circle similar to the ones Naruto had seen during that whole incident with Julia, hovering above it. "Hell, I might just do that anyway."

"Give em another one!" the guard piloting the carriage said.

Naruto grit his teeth as another bolt of electricity ravaged his body, this one is so intense that this time he actually felt his breath leave him. His vision grew blurry and eyelids heavy, his body slumped forward and he lost his balance.

A thud shook the cart as the blond fell face first, into the hardwood floor.

Satisfied, one of the men slid a piece of metal in front of the window and turned back to the road, leaving the unconscious duo to rot in the darkness.

* * *

 **Just a heads up, I rewrote chapter 4 and switched its place with chapter 3 to make things hopefully flow a bit better.**

 **Anyways, short chapter but I just wanted to set the scene for things. Might consider merging this chapter with chapter 4.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Visitors (Sasuke)**

* * *

 **I: Day 4**

* * *

Sasuke sat up and irritatedly pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed the book in his lap and tossed it onto the ever-growing pile, which now stood approximately ten feet high.

The world around him was fascinating, everything he had read in the past few days had been taken straight from the so-called 'non-fiction' section of the library, which thus far seemed anything but. The book he had just finished was titled, 'The Great Dragon War', which chronicled the events of a so-called war that took place between what he thought were mythical creatures and humanity.

From how it was written and ignoring just how fantasy-like the title was, it was apparently a history book.

That wasn't the first of the many oddball books he had blazed through in his short time there. One book detailed what little was known of the life of a man named 'Zeref' an allegedly evil wizard who liked to create demons in his spare time, and world-ending 'spells' when he got bored. Aside from that, most of what he read was based around ecology and geography, which, even then seemed like a load shit and that was coming from a guy who came from a world where breathing fire was about as normal as one could get in his line of work.

After giving it some thought, he formulated a single question. What was in the 'fiction' section of the library?

He sat up from his chair just as Mavis walked into the room, a stack of books in hand. She glanced over at him, then was immediately drawn to the ten-foot tower of literature at his side.

Her expression lit up and she set the books upon a nearby table. "So how was it!? The dragon war, was it not fascinating?"

"Seemed like something straight out of a fairytale."

"I know right? And to think it all actually happened so long ago."

Sasuke didn't respond away, instead, he got to work on putting the books he had checked out back into their proper shelves. "This world, magic, spells, mages, guilds... it's all so bizarre, yet the history here is so rich and detailed. I'll admit, I was beginning to have my doubts about this place being real after reading, 'The One-Hundred Guild Alliance' and 'Spellcasting for dummies.'

Mavis tilted her head sideways. It wasn't every day that you met someone who didn't know even the most basic, elementary things about the world he lived in. Up until a few days ago, she was sure that not a single person in Earthland didn't know about magic. Yet here he stood, the only person in the world who... well... didn't know the first thing about magic! She had long since formed a theory that he was simply one hell of an actor, but after one particular incident where she came in to serve him his breakfast, then came back for dinner later that day only to see him still sitting in that chair, his eyes glued into a completely different book, and the stack having grown a whole three feet, she began to have her doubts. It especially troubled her whenever she looked into his eyes and saw the dark bags that had formed in the days since he had arrived.

Did he even sleep?

The ensuing silence was broken almost immediately as they heard a rather loud creaking noise coming from the main lobby. Sasuke, who had hardly left the building during his time here, recognized the sound along with Mavis as the front door being opened. Quickly, he stepped between her, and the upward slanted corridor off to the side that led into a flight of stairs, where she had come from.

"Is there anyone else on this island?" Sasuke asked, gripping his sword from beneath his cloak.

"N-no! It's just me, Zera, and you!"

'So that's a no then,' Sasuke thought, shuddering at the thought of this Zera character.

"Hide," he ordered.

Mavis complied and took cover behind one of the bookshelves.

Sasuke glanced over to see if she had concealed herself fully only for his heart to drop when he saw her intensively peeking around the corner with a glare fixated at the stairway. She made no real effort to conceal herself.

"This kid," he muttered to himself just as a man cautiously peeked into the room from the corridor.

Sasuke shot the man a look that froze him in place.

"Whoa, whoa!" Yuri, who right about now, was looking a lot paler than usual, cried out. "Jeez, talk about looks that can kill."

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"And what are you doing on this island!" Mavis cried out causing the shinobi to sigh. "Huh!? Want a piece of me!"

Yuri looked shocked to see her, and even more so when he felt the sharp edge of something cold and metallic press against his neck. He squelched himself, not wanting to say anything that could potentially anger his aggressor.

"Well, you heard her. Explain yourself."

Yuri gulped and backed away while taking care not to slice up his own throat in the process. "Hey now," he began once he was a safe distance away from the sharp and pointy object, "I thought this island was abandoned! I bear no ill will!"

"Uh huh, sure you do. Mr. Sasuke, chop him to bits!"

"What!?"

Sasuke shrugged and began to approach but was stopped only when he saw the man fall to his knees and beg for mercy.

"I swear, I didn't come here to hurt anyone, honest!"

"Hmph," Mavis gained a smug expression as if this were somehow apart of some devilishly devious master plan. "Then why _are_ you here?" she asked, approaching Yuri with all caution having been tossed aside and repeatedly trampled like a soggy newspaper left out on a rainy day. "Spit it out, or my friend'll slice you right in two! And... between you me," she said, her tone lowering to a whisper, "I don't think he does 'clean cuts'."

Sasuke's eye twitched.

"O-ok! You win, you win!" Yuri shouted as he stood up and brushed himself off. He took a breath and started, "I'm just here to survey the wildlife and study the environment, that's all."

"Is that so?" Mavis quizzed, to which she received a nod. "Would you say you're quite knowledgable on the subject of biology then?"

"Of course, its how I make a living after all. Admittedly though, I haven't really gotten to explore all that much," he said. "I just got here, me and my team. We docked north and I was just looking around a bit on my own when I followed this stone road and came across this library."

"Really... then if you truly are a biology expert as you claim, then how did you protect yourself against the poisonous Jagdrinka native to this island?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned up against a nearby wall, his interest piqued. 'What's she up too?' he wondered.

"Well, that's easy! There's a place in Hargeon that sells an elixir that nullifies the effects of-"

Mavis smirked. "Hmph."

"What?"

"You're not very good a lying," she stated before her mood became sickeningly cheery and bright. "Anyone who's studied biology in the least bit would know that Jagdrinka isn't the least bit poisonous!"

Yuri grew tongue-tied at this.

'Clever kid,' Sasuke mentally complimented as he took a seat at a chair, crossed his arms, and enjoyed the show.

"I-I..."

"You're awfully bad a lying sir," she said, pointing at the man. Now I'd suggest you fess up and tell me what exactly it is that you're doing here!"

* * *

 **II**

* * *

Precht and Warrod arrived at the library approximately five minutes later. Where they expected to find Yuri crawling about and sniffing around every last corner of the building, exactly like a bloodhound when it catches a scent, they instead were met with a peculiar scene.

There, groveling on the ground in defeat, was Yuri, and standing seemingly victorious before him, was a teenaged girl who was happily chanting something about, 'getting to see the fairies'. Upon further inspection, they looked over and spotted a man, sitting at a table in the corner of the room with a contemplative look on his face.

He appeared to be muttering something to himself.

Warrod and Precht greeted their fallen friend with, not a concerned, "Are you ok friend?" but with an instinctive, "What'd you get yourself into this time?" this being asked in unison.

"Precht, Warrod! Did you find the orb?"

Mavis frowned. "I'm not saying squat, you know."

"Yup," Precht began.

Mavis and Yuri's expressions both fell at the moment as they began muttering something about, 'Pointless games', also in unison.

"We found it, or rather we found the hole where it used to rest. It's completely empty now."

"What!?" Mavis cried out.

Yuri's jaw dropped upon hearing this. "A-are you sure?"

"Unfortunately," Precht continued. "Been nice knowing you Yuri."

"It's off to the slammer with you," Warrod commented. "Sorry, bud."

When the reality of the situation finally hit him, Yuri fell face first onto the stone cold floor, a look of utter despair only momentarily present before it was quickly replaced with one of sheer pain and regret. "I'm doomed," he mumbled to himself in a muffled fashion. "I'll have to leave the country... change my name... ARGH! I can't even do that! That piece of junk we came in could hardly make it out here in the first place!"

"W-wait! There must be some mistake! It has to be there," Mavis said.

"If it is, then there's gotta be some secret to this island we don't know ab- wait... who are you?" asked Warrod.

"I'm Mavis, Mavis Vermilion. I'm the protector of this island and the Tenrou Jade."

"Protector eh?" Warrod began, glancing over briefly at Sasuke who was still lost in deep thought. He then looked back to the girl who had rebelliously crossed her arms and began glaring at the trio. "You're awfully small to be a protector of... well anything really."

Mavis puffed her cheeks out upon hearing this. "I'm not small!"

"Right... I guess tiny would be a better fit eh?" Warrod teased.

"Grr... Sasuke, tell them I'm not short!"

"Did he really blink that many times? Hmm... or more importantly... did she really _not_ blink at all?" he muttered to himself before turning to the group. "Oh, sorry," he said, sitting up from his seat. "You were saying."

"This your big brother or something?" Precht asked, approaching the man. There was something about him that felt familiar to the high-collared treasure hunter, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He locked eyes with the shinobi, his brow furrowing into a leer.

Sasuke, who greatly disliked being examined like some kind of specimen, quickly broke the awkward silence. "What're you looking at?"

"AHH!" Mavis suddenly shouted. "Never mind that, the Tenrou Jade!?"

Precht and Sasuke ceased their staring match with the former already starting out of the building.

"This way," he said as the group followed after him in a single file line.

* * *

 **III: Day 6, Two days Later...**

* * *

True to their word, the jade was indeed gone from its pedestal, or to more accurately describe it, 'hole in a big rock'. Mavis looked more or less, torn up about the whole thing, yet at the same time, Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that she was, somewhere deep down, happy about the whole situation. He quickly discovered why as she was easily able to talk the trio into letting her, her 'imaginary friend', and himself tag along on a trip to the mainland.

Apparently, the guild that was responsible for the islands depressingly quiet state was the prime suspect for being the ones who took the jade and after few hours, the group set sail, on route to Fiore. Their target, the Blue Skull dark guild.

Now the trip, which encompassed the whole of three days, was almost unbearably uneventful. Sasuke found himself napping in the ships hull more often than not, never once going out of his way to ask treasure hunters any questions, or making any sort of effort to get to know them at all.

Mavis, on the other hand, was a complete chatterbox and made it quite difficult for Sasuke to sleep as she would often regale him with all the things she expected to see once they got to the mainland. Most of which were dreadfully mundane, and yet, with the sheer amount of youthful vigor in her tone, one would think that she was expecting something a hell of a lot more exciting than, 'Middle-class merchants riddled with anxiety and neck deep in debt, going about their daily lives and just barely scraping by from sale to sale,' as she so aptly put it.

This girl was something else.

As for the treasure hunters, whilst Sasuke made no attempt to get to know them, they sure made an attempt for the reverse. He didn't quite understand why at first, he tried his best to stay quiet throughout the whole trip for a reason, to make himself seem as uninteresting as possible.

Then again, this proved to be an almost impossible feat being an amputee and all.

Fast forward to the morning of the third day, and, despite being buried deep in the hull of the ship amongst the cargo, Mavis' voice pierced through the silence.

"LAND HO!"

Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up groggily. Pushing himself off a rather cozy crate he had since taken to upon initially entering the ship, he stretched his limbs and started toward the deck.

He emerged onto the surface only to be met with a blindingly bright, sunlit, and cloudless sky.

"Someone put that out," he remarked in a light-hearted fashion.

Yuri, who was nearby at the time, grinned and sat against the railing that lined the deck. "Morning sleeping beauty, finally decide to crawl out of there and get some fresh air?"

Sasuke glared at the man but quickly faltered into a frown. He didn't have the strength to send the usual glares this early in the morning.

"Yuri, the lifeboats are ready!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as a voice came from the side of the ship. He approached the area where he heard the voice and glanced down to see Precht, Warrod, and Mavis waving up at them.

"I'm lost."

"Well you see... we kinda had to borrow this ship to get here."

"Borrow?" Sasuke said, doubt evident in his tone.

"Yeah, borrow! Now c'mon, let's get outta here and onto the mainland! All this rocking is making me queasy."

Sasuke felt the same. He never liked boats, and being a shinobi he could usually just walk on the water so the occasion to sail never really came up back in the Elemental Nations, save maybe once or twice in his life.

The duo climbed down into the boat to join the rest. And after a particularly awkward moment where Yuri almost sat where Zera was allegedly sitting, they set off, the mood for all the males in the group, having drastically changed.

Yet despite this, Mavis remained enthusiastic about the whole ordeal.

That girl really was a wonder.

* * *

 **Sorry about the wait. I could not for the life of me, figure out how to go about this particular chapter without just straight up writing it in a way almost identical to canon so I wound up doing mostly just that, albiet with changed dialogue and Sasuke being there and whatnot. Apoligies if this isn't the most interesting chapter and seems a tad rushed.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Blue Skull (Naruto)**

* * *

 **I: Day 3**

 **The morning after Naruto's capture...**

* * *

Naruto awoke to a bumpy ride and the sound of wheels rolling against an uneven road. He sat up, noting that the sounds were coming to a halt, and the chamber was stabilizing. Yuri was nowhere to be seen, yet this didn't boggle his mind too much considering the man possessed a cube that could teleport its user miles away at a moments notice.

Still though, he was a tad bit peeved that Yuri didn't take him along.

He sat up, and glanced out one of the barred windows, towards the various structures that lay beyond.

From what little he could make out, the place looked like a ghost town. The buildings were in poor shape, and an aura of misery loomed over the depressingly worn homes and empty shops. For a split second, he thought he saw someone dart across an alleyway he had passed, only to disappear behind an overfilled dumpster.

A look of concern spread across his features as he took note of the still body, lying in the roadway. Currently, it was serving as a feast for the crows.

The carriage came to a halt, and the door opened moments later flooding the chamber with a piercing light that strained the eyes of the sole beholder.

"Get out," the guard demanded.

Naruto complied and stepped out. The guards didn't seem concerned with Yuri's disappearance, nor did they inquire about his absence, telling him that they must've already known about his escape. That or they let him off the hook.

The blond glanced at the guard who now held a pair of cuffs in one hand. Realizing what he was to do, he held his hands up and the cuffs locked around his wrists. He'd have to play along for the time being, he just needed that remote.

Forcefully, the guard grabbed his shoulder and began to drag him down the road, toward an elegant cathedral wrapped in the embraced of what looked to be the bone-structure of a dragon made entirely out of a gleaming blue crystal.

"Where we headed?" Naruto asked, his eyes fixed on the monstrous sculpture of bone.

"To meet your new masters. From this day onward, you belong to the Blue skull guild."

The guard kept his expression forward until they reached the grand double doorway where he forcefully shoved his captive onto the ground and knocked on the doors.

"Open up, I am a Rune Knight of the Magic Council, I have business with your master."

On cue, the doors opened and two men sporting blue cloaks with a skull-shaped pattern stitched into the fabric of the hood greeted them.

"Come to bring us fresh meat?" one asked.

"It looks a bit scrawny."

It? Naruto wondered, not to fond of the idea of being referred to like an object.

"Stand aside," the guard ordered and, to Naruto's interest, they complied and then the guard continued to drag Naruto along, this time lifting him to his feet.

Being pulled through the tavern-like interior made him bear witness to a few things, namely acts of violence. Despite all being dressed alike, everyone he saw was throwing punches, tossing objects at one another, and on one or two occasions, brutally stabbing another. Yet something about the air, or perhaps it was the smell, told him that this was an everyday occurrence.

Before he knew it, he was pushed into a small room with an office-like interior, complete with a desk, spinny chair, and various shelves and cabinets. Most notably, were the display cases that held unique and bizarre items ranging from the skulls of unknown creatures, to seemingly mundane objects like instruments and gemstones. None stood out more then the supposed crown-jewel of the collection, which sat in a glass container atop the desk, and was currently being eyed by a man with a blue pigmentation encompassing the majority of his face.

Through his goggles reflected the spherical form of the orb in the case, and he mumbled, "Just what do I have to do to unlock your secrets?" before sparing a glance at his visitors. "I wasn't informed of any knights showing up at my doorstep ahead of time as usual. Pray tell, what brings you to my humble estate?"

"I came of my own volition. I've a piece of filth I'd like to sell."

Naruto couldn't help but glare at the guard.

"Good," the blue-faced man, said. "We've been in dire need of extra hands lately, mostly due to the fact that my idiotic underlings keep killing each other. Can he hold a broom?"

"From what I'm told, he's got one hell of a right hook."

"I'll take it. How does, five-hundred thousand sound?"

"F-five hundred? I was promised at least a million!"

"Promised by whom? Surely not myself."

"By my-"

"Take it or leave it. Do note, however, that if you leave it... well, you might not be walking out of here with the same amount of limbs you had coming in, and even fewer teeth to boot."

"Y-you can't-"

"Listen to me, the only reason you're still breathing right now is that I'd prefer to maintain a strong relationship with the council. Bear in mind, however, that I won't be afraid to send a message if need be."

The guard took the money without another word, and after a brief exchange between remote and moneybag, the guard left leaving Naruto at the mercy of the blue-faced man who was currently fiddling with the remote, his finger, every now and then, glazing over the power button.

"Alright then, seeing as you now belong to me," the man spoke up after a long silence, "tell me your name."

"Its Naruto," he responded simply.

"Naruto... strange name. I'm Geoffry, the master of the Blue Skull guild, but you likely already knew that much. So, tell me, what brings you to my doorstep?"

"Uh well-"

"You can sit."

Naruto gladly complied and gave the spinny chair a twirl for good measure.

Geoffry spared him a confused look that told Naruto that he was not amused. "Get out of the chair."

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled as he stood up and took a few steps back.

"Now, answer my question."

"Uh... I punched out a guard?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Pretty crazy huh haha... I uh... so, I'm guessing you don't want a trouble maker like me sticking around right? Why don't you just toss me that remote there-"

Geoffry responded with a mad cackle that gave Naruto the shivers. What was so funny anyway? He was completely serious!

"You Mr. Naruto, are quite the gem! A housemaid that can tell jokes? Why you've been on my wishlist for years!"

The brash and spontaneous Naruto within him wanted to chew the man out for calling him a maid. This time, luckily, the calm and collected, adult Naruto took charge, and a crisis was quickly averted for the time being.

"I think you and me are going to get along swimmingly Mr. Naruto," the man said as he waved the remote around in front of him as if daring his new servant to try something.

"Haha... yeah..."

Naruto's eyes followed the remote with each sway as if he had been hypnotized in some manner.

This action didn't go unnoticed by the blue-faced guild master.

"So, let's start with your first task."

Naruto reverted his gaze to the guildmaster. "What would that be?"

"Firstly, we've been in dire need of a cook for the last month. I swear if I need to eat canned rations for the hundredth time..."

"Cook? Yeah, I can do that... er... you like ramen?"

"No."

"Oh... well, then I'm afraid that title is out of my jurisdiction my friend!"

Geoffry grew annoyed at this. "Janitor it is then. You'll be scrubbing the floors day in and day out, along with keeping the outside of the cathedral clear of any trash that may build up. Oh, and the guild bathroom... you'll need this."

Naruto watched as the man started digging through his drawers, noting that he had foolishly left the remote lying on the table for the taking. Now was his chance!

Whoosh. The sound reverberated throughout the room as Naruto crossed the distance between him and Geoffry in an instant, a circle of dust was all that was left in his wake. His bound hands were cupped almost around the remote that the guild master had laying brazenly in front of his face. Bizarrely, however, he was now floating a few inches off the ground and he couldn't summon the strength to clasp his hands together. Something, most likely the red aura that had outlined his body, kept him from moving a muscle.

"You're a quick one."

Naruto grunted as he was sent crashing through the doorway, and continued onward about fifteen feet until he hit the ground where he was sent sliding ten more.

Geoffry emerged from the room, staff in hand and a cocky smile on his face.

The blond sat up and eyed the man.

"I suppose I should've gone over the rules first."

Naruto glanced around noting that he was now surrounded on all sides by the cloaked men.

Geoffry slowly approached his staff serving as a walking stick. "There are only two things that are absolute and may not be challenged here at Blue Skull. You already broke the first by entering my personal bubble without permission, and the second when you interrupted me."

Naruto pushed himself to his feet and slid into a defensive stance.

"Usually, the punishment for breaking one would be laundry duty, both would mean a broken thumb," he finished causing his underlings to shudder. "Today, however, I'm feeling a bit sporty. Hows about it boys? Who wants to give our new valet a warm welcome!"

Three men chuckled and stepped into the man-made ring in front of Naruto. They were bulky, almost overly so, and had faces that looked like someone took a wrench to their nose, forehead, and chin, in that order.

"Let's see some teeth _fly_ boys!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd as the combatants, minus Naruto cracked their knuckles.

"Wait, let's talk about this," Naruto began, taking a step back.

"Boss wants you hurt, so we're gonna hurt!" the first stated with a deep, and heavy accent.

"Yeah huhuhuh, hurt!" the second chimed in with a similar, much deeper tone.

"We'll break you like a twig!" the third stated with an extremely high pitched squeal.

Naruto, whose hands were still bound, raised his hands toward his opponents, palms open. "Ok then, if you wanna be unreasonable, then come at me!"

Responding to the challenge, one of the men immediately went on the offensive and threw a barrage of strikes aimed to end the fight quickly. He was immediately stopped when out of the blue, he felt a pair of fists shove themselves into his chest so far that one of the spectators swore he saw his back bulge outward for a split second.

A look of displeasure replaced the once gleaming expression of Geoffry.

Naruto remained stone-faced, even after the man was ejected from his fists by the sheer force behind his attack and sent flying into the crowd of onlookers, who quickly scattered. He lowered his fists and rested himself back into a defensive posture, beckoning his other two adversaries forward.

They complied with his silent demand and instantly started throwing punches his way. Strike after strike went either deflected or dodged, and the men were already starting to tire.

Quickly, Naruto suddenly dispatched one of the men by clasping his hands together and slamming them into his face.

Hoping to get the drop on him, the last of the attackers went for a sneak attack.

Anticipating this, in an impressive display of acrobatics, Naruto performed a backflip and landed just behind the man, his cuffs now wrapped firmly around his neck. This time, he himself went on the aggressive by forcibly pushing the man to the ground and crossing his arms, tightening the bind on the cuffs.

Suddenly, the cuffs shattered, and the man, who was unconscious, was freed.

Naruto looked up to see Geoffry with the tip of his index finger smoking. Just then, the same red aura from before enveloped him and he was lifted into the air.

"Hmm," Geoffry mused before violently slamming Naruto into the granite ground so hard that it fractured the floor.

Naruto cried out in pain as he was lifted up to eye level with Geoffry.

"You're quite skilled, you move, unlike any warrior I've seen before. Tell me, do you perhaps belong to a mercenaries guild? Are you perhaps a mage?"

Naruto didn't respond.

"No matter I suppose. Though I feel after this display here, I ought to break your spirit a bit before handing you a broom."

Before he could react, Naruto was propelled into a wall, sending debris flying about. He let out a cry before being ejected from the human-shaped hole and getting thrown directly through a window. Stray glass shards poking out from the frame cut at his skin as he was ripped back into the building and tossed on the floor once more.

He coughed out blood and his eyelids grew heavy.

"You're quite durable as well," Geoffry noted as he released whatever bind he had on him.

He was still conscious, though not for long as with each passing moment he felt himself slowly begin to drift off for the third time since this whole adventure started. The last thing he heard was the guildmaster barking orders at his underlings to scrape him off the floor and dump him off on one of the other slaves to treat his wounds.

* * *

 **II: Day 4**

* * *

When Naruto awoke to find himself lying comfortably tucked into a soft bed for the second time since he arrived in this world, he sat up right away only to instantly regret it when a sharp pain in his torso forced him back down. Through his peripherals, he managed to catch the sight of a woman sitting on a chair right beside the bed.

"You musn't push yourself! You're in no condition to make sudden movements right now after that beating master Geoffry gave you."

Slowly he glanced over, a small groan escaping his lips.

She was pretty, that much he could discern before he quickly reminded himself that he was a married man. Her dark brown eyes and hair, which flowed freely and fell just below her shoulders, were further complemented by a caring smile carefully placed on matured features, giving her a strong motherly vibe. From what he could tell, she may have been a few years older than him, though this was only somewhat apparent as she had aged rather well.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"A solid day, give or take."

"Jeez."

"Settled down now?"

"Just about, though it still feels like I got hit by a train."

She giggled. "Well, be glad it was just Master Geoffry then," she joked, eliciting a smile from the blond. "I'm Elena, by the way."

"Naruto- argh! Jeez."

"Try not to move so much." Elena looked to the nightstand and grabbed a glass filled with water. "You must be parched."

"Don't mind if I- ouch!"

The woman frowned. "I said, try not to move. Here."

Naruto opened his mouth and allowed the woman to gently pour the glass's contents down his throat. When he finished, he let out a breath and rested his head. "Man, water never tasted so good," he stated with a chuckle.

"I'd imagine. Truth be told, I'm just glad they didn't just dump a corpse on me."

"Huh?"

"You've been out for a day."

"A-a day!?" _Oh man... I've been gone for four days! Hinata must be worried sick!_

Elena smiled and set the glass down at the table. "So, what brings you here? Surely you didn't volunteer for this."

"That's a long and complicated story. I did something pretty stupid and wound up pissing off those Rune Knight guys."

"I see... so they sold you, didn't they?"

"Does that happen a lot around here?"

"I'm afraid so. Master Geoffry has a deal with the council, as do numerous other dark guilds. So long as they continue to make payments to the council, the dark guilds can do as they please. On occasion, dark guilds will make special requests to the council, and they'll send the Rune Knights to do their bidding."

"Sounds rough."

"The country isn't what it used to be," Elena stated before silently reminiscing about better days.

Naruto's face fell into a neutral expression as he stared at the ceiling, thinking about how to continue the conversation. "So, how'd you end up here?" he asked, immediately regretting it as her face quickly told him that he hit a sore spot.

Elena sighed and lifted the right sleeve belonging to the frilled, long-sleeved dress she wore. On her forearm was a pink crescent-shaped symbol that resembled a lizard. "I used to belong to a mage guild called Red Lizard. We lived on an island not too far from Fiore's southern coast, a beautiful island called Tenroujima."

"Really? What was that like?" Naruto asked, placing the brand new concept of mage guilds at the back of his mind for the moment.

"Wonderful. It was peaceful and often rather quiet day in and day out. Nothing could quite beat the weather; a warm sun, coupled with the constant oceanic breeze that came with being on an island made for fine summers." she let out a nostalgic sigh and closed her eyes. "Quite often, me, my husband, and my daughter would take frequent trips down to the shore around that season. We'd spend days having fun in the water, playing volleyball, or even just taking long walks along the beach, just enjoying the weather together," she finished, her eyes closed in a manner that just screamed 'nostalgic bliss'.

A bit hesitant to ask at first, Naruto went to ask how she ended up on the mainland but stopped when he noticed tears had begun to slip through her eyelids.

"Then... then Blue Skull came..."

Naruto noticed her expression had grown serious, yet a flicker of sorrow lingered in her eyes.

"They caught us off guard while we were asleep one night. They showed up seemingly out of nowhere, raided our island, and burnt everything we had worked so hard to build to ash, all the while slaughtering everyone I've ever known. Friends, family... everyone, and they took me and my daughter as prisoners. My husband was the guild master, and he fought valiantly to keep us safe. But... when Geoffry found that he couldn't best him in fair combat, he used us as a bargaining chip... and that's when..."

"You don't have to keep going," Naruto said. "If it's too hard to talk about, I won't press you."

"It's fine. Some people here have had it far worse than me." She said, her tone indicating that the memory clearly troubled her. At the same time, Naruto couldn't help but feel as though she had since accepted the grim reality of her situation. "I've told this story to just about everyone that's come to my quarters, and in turn, they share their own. Some more interesting than others, some less so. Some more tragic, others... well, I don't want to say they had it coming but... they had it coming."

"Sounds rough. How many of us are there?"

"Twenty-four, yourself included."

The moment she uttered those words, voices from the outside breached the decrepit walls of the room. The pair glanced over to the nearby window, and Elena took the front row seat.

"NO PLEASE! I-I didn't mean to-"

"Shut it, slave!

"N-no ack!"

There was a strangling noise, and then a loud, spine-tingling, crack.

"Shit! There goes another one."

"Don't worry, we got that new guy, remember?"

"Yeah yeah... I know. But... damnit! Whos gonna do my laundry now?"

"You could try doing it yourself-"

Naruto, whose jaw had nearly hit the floor, grit his teeth together, rage building in his chest. "Those monsters! How could they just... if I didn't have this stupid collar on-"

"Oh, Helen..." Elena mumbled, placing a hand against her chest. "I'll take care of Maxie, I promise."

The voices faded into the distance, and once Elena had deemed that they were now completely out of sight, she sighed.

"I guess it's twenty-three now," she continued, starting toward the exit. "Geoffry expects you to be in working condition by tomorrow. Given your wounds and your current state... it looks like you'll have to power through a lot of pain."

Naruto nodded. "Got it. Don't worry about me," he began, flashing her his signature grin and giving a reassuring thumbs up, "I'm a quick healer."

Elena smiled once again and opened the door. "For your sake, I hope so."

With that, the woman exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Naruto sat back in his bed, gazing at the ceiling. There was a lot to think about but first and foremost, how was he going to get this collar off? He wouldn't make it far if he ran now, and chakra mode was out of the equation if Kurama's warning was anything to go off of.

On that note, the fox was due for a visit, he thought. With that,

The moment Naruto manifested within the flooded halls of his sewer-like mindscape, he was met with a booming, **"No."**

"Let me just try it real fast! If I feel anything I'll-"

 **"You know,"** he interrupted, " **I've had this sneaking suspicion for a while, Naruto and have been meaning to ask,"** the tailed beast paused and lowered himself down to eye level with his host, **"Do you want to die?"**

Naruto's face fell as the question had somehow struck a chord somewhere deep in his mind. "No, of course, I don't!"

 **"Could've fooled me."**

"BAH! Forget you then!"

 **"I'm just trying to help you, moron! Chakra doesn't work in this world, remember? So clearly, there's something in the air that's conflicting with it! Now, knowing all this, what do you think would happen if you** _ **cloak**_ **yourself in a dense coating of highly volatile chakra?"**

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!

 **"You're hopeless! I'm done talking to you."**

The moment that was said, he was ejected from his own mind, and temporarily found himself unable to formulate a single thought. Upon recovering this ability, he hurled a slur of profanities and insults toward the fox, to which a mad cackle resonated throughout his mind.

Even Naruto couldn't help but laugh at himself when all was said and done. He looked over at a nearby window, happening to catch a brief glimpse of a flock of bizarre birds flying in the distance.

Deciding it best to rest up for the time being, he rested his head against the pillow and got to thinking. He wasn't going anywhere with this collar on that's for damn sure.

All he had to do, was get that remote.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Black Wizard (Sasuke)**

* * *

 **I: Day 6**

* * *

"L-let me go!"

The cries of the distressed man beneath Sasuke's foot were in vain as the shinobi twisted his foot, burying his heel into the back of the man's neck. The poor soul let out a squeal as more pressure was applied with each rigid motion.

"Good, you left one conscious," Sasuke said, addressing Mavis and Precht, who were standing just off to the side.

Mavis knelt down and glared and stuck her finger in his face. "Now, where is Blue Skull?" she quizzed, her tone raised just loud enough for the man to hear over the pained groans of the surrounding thugs. This was the result of a rather amusing exchange between Mavis, Precht, and the tavern owner that was currently dangling upside down from the roof, his foot buried deep into the ceiling.

Not too long ago, Sasuke had walked in after doing a little investigation of his own at another establishment not too far down the road, having ultimately come up with diddly squat in the end, just in time to see Mavis and Precht get attacked. He didn't care why and didn't plan on asking once everything was said and done. If anything, this meant that they had struck gold and he hesitantly joined in. He only went about taking down the few that lagged behind the rest of the group, mostly because Precht seemed to be doing fine on his own.

After silently watching a small little mishap with a glowing circle, and a giant flaming wolf of Mavis's own creation, Sasuke decided to make his presence known to the surprise of the pair.

"You'll never get me to rat out the boys! I've got nerves of STEEL, you can't break me! Fiore's top interrogation specialists couldn't bend my will, and I certainly won't bend my knee to some little girl and her babysitters!"

"Hmph, is that so?" Mavis questioned. "Sasuke, would you mind?"

"With pleasure," Sasuke uttered before picking the man up and slamming him onto the bar, face first. "I've got plenty of ways to make you talk here, most of them'll hurt... a lot."

"G-go to hell!"

Sasuke looked at Precht, who gave him a nod as if they shared some sort of mental connection.

Precht then turned to Mavis, and immediately hoisted her over his shoulder, resulting in her releasing cries of annoyance. To no avail, she began to pound on the man's back as hard as she could, but her strikes were more or less akin to very light taps then anything.

When the pair disappeared outside, Sasuke turned back to his victim and grabbed a small shot glass that was lying around. "Last chance."

"Screw yo-" The man was silenced as he felt the glass get violently shoved into his mouth. His look of confusion was quickly replaced with one of severe pain and anguish when Sasuke's fist struck his jaw.

Meanwhile, outside, Precht was listening to the screams of the bar owner while simultaneously keeping his palms pressed against the ears of a fuming Mavis. On one or two occasions, she attempted to break free from his grasp, but to no avail.

Moments later, Sasuke emerged from the bar with surprisingly clean hand save for a few cuts here and there.

Precht released his grasp, releasing his captive.

"Finally!" she cried, glaring at Precht. "What's the big idea!?"

"It was for your own good, trust me."

"I could still hear y'know!"

The treasure hunter sighed.

Sasuke shook his head and approached them. "He told me that the group we're after is held up in a place called Magnolia Town."

"Magnolia Town? That's... not too far from here," Precht stated, glancing to the north.

"Ooh! I read about that," Mavis said, enthusiastically. "Its the home to one of the three great churches if I'm not mistaken. Kardia Cathedral, right?"

Precht nodded in affirmation.

"Any leads?" Yuri began, suddenly joining the group out of nowhere along with Warrod.

"On Blue Skull?" Precht began. "They've set up in Magnolia town it seems. More importantly, however..."

Yuri finished for him, knowing what his companion was about to ask. "Rune Knights haven't said anything to me so far, but word around the town is they just pulled in the ship. Lotta folk seem to think it was just some accident, that it drifted out to sea and somehow made it back. Others... well, they're a bit smarter than that."

"Speaking of which," Sasuke said, looking at Yuri. "How did you manage to get ahold of that ship in the first place?"

"SHHHH! Jeez, just scream it to the world why don't ya!?"

"Sorry."

"Man, well... I guess it won't hurt to tell you, but you gotta promise to-" he trailed off, giving it the thought a momentary once-over before ultimately, he shook his head. "Actually, nevermind."

Sasuke frowned.

Warrod chimed in at this point. "Nothing personal Sasuke, it's just... well we can't be too careful. The guy that was nice enough to help us out while we were stuck in a rut and is probably a wanted man being chased across the whole of Fiore right about now."

"Weird logic considering I could very well report you right now if I wanted to," Sasuke said, turning to Yuri who was now looking at him with suspicion. "Answer me this, what if he gets caught, and decides to rat you out thinking it'll save his own skin?"

Yuri chuckled nervously. He had a point, two very good points as a matter of fact. "Well when you're extremely desperate like I was, you tend not to think things through until the very last minute. I'd be lying if I said the thought doesn't occur to me from time to time, but he doesn't seem like a snake though, hell I had hardly just met the guy and yet it felt like I'd known him for ages!"

"Really?" Sasuke asked, having been reminded of a certain loud-mouthed friend of his.

"Yup. Weird huh?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Not in the slightest. In fact, I actually know someone who tends to leave that impression on people."

"Yeah? Are we talking about the same guy?"

"Was his name Naruto?"

Yuri went silent, his eyes bulging outward momentarily at what was seemingly a one in a million guess. "Wait... you know him?"

Sasuke himself was surprised that he had guessed it correctly. In hindsight, stealing a boat for completely random strangers as an act of kindness was definitely something he wouldn't put past the blond.

"That idiot," he mumbled in slight annoyance, mostly relieved that Naruto was alive in the first place.

Mavis, who was feeling a bit left out right about now, quickly shot in. "So, are we going to Magnolia or not?"

"Guess so, don't have much of a choice sadly..." Yuri muttered, not too keen on the idea of taking on a dark guild.

"Look on the bright side," Warrod began, "it's just a hop, a skip, and a plop to the north!"

"I hear the bandits aren't a fan of the weather these days either," Precht stated in hopes of sounding optimistic for once.

"Ain't it Wyvern mating season this time of the year?" Yuri said causing everyone present to shiver.

Sasuke looked at the group, watching them discuss their next plan of action and simultaneously tuning them out as he allowed himself to get lost in thought.

He was getting sidetracked. Truth be told, had it not been for the fact that Mavis was tagging along on this little endeavor, he would've gone his separate ways the moment they set foot on land.

That wasn't to say that the notion was entirely out of the question, mind you.

Luckily, the side of him that didn't find the idea of leaving a little girl alone with a group of strange men won through, and he ultimately decided for the sixth time that evening that he'd stick along for the ride. Or at least until he found Naruto.

* * *

 **II**

* * *

The decision to head out in pursuit of Blue Skull, to the town of Magnolia which lay further north, about a days journey by foot, was taken extremely lightly. In fact, it was almost as though the sheer sense of adventure that had befallen the group had caused all of them to forgo their better sense of judgment.

Sasuke had to admit, he too had fallen victim to the mood. Hell, at one point, he was sure they had started _marching_ somewhere along the way, all the while singing a rather catchy song about a Grandmaster Mage, a rotten turnip, and a chicken.

Who knew, 'A hop, a skip, and a plop' translated to a jolly trek over half a dozen hills, through a forest, and across a lake, in this world. To think, all that, and they had hardly just reached the midway point according to Yuri some twelve odd hours later.

They took camp for the night somewhere along the way, and after a few campfire stories and some smores, he went off in a direction, wanting to be alone for the time being.

There were a lot of things on his mind, most of which revolved around his situation and what he should do once he helped retrieve this 'Tenrou Jade'. Finding Naruto would certainly be his top priority right off the bat, and at a close second, finding a way home.

He'd be lying if he said that the trip here didn't cause him to grow interested in the world around him. So far, a lot of rather outlandish things like upside down waterfalls, and bizarre animals that defy the imagination had turned out to be true from the book she had read. Even the very forest they were in was something of a wonder, the nearby pond water was glowing blue for one.

A yawn escaped Sasuke's lips as he felt himself slowly begin to drift off.

"So... this is where you were Zera!"

Sasuke's eyes shot open and he glanced down from his spot in a tree, over by the water and directly across the pond. Mavis was there, alone.

He watched the exchange go down for a brief moment until she started to strip, where he immediately averted his eyes and started in another direction. It didn't feel right sticking around, not just because she was now stark naked, playing in the water with some apparition named Zera. (Although that was a big part of why he didn't stick around). The sight was also rather depressing, to say the least.

That girl had been alone for quite some time, so long in fact that she had managed to convince herself that this imaginary friend of hers actually exists.

"C'mon, let's get back before we catch a cold!" Mavis called out and for one, bone-chilling, moment, Sasuke swore he heard something respond.

Was he too, losing his mind?

* * *

 **III: Day 7**

* * *

Somewhere along the way, Sasuke had taken refuge against that sat somewhere not too far from the pond. He awoke to find that the sun had yet to fully rise and that the icy morning cold similar to the one he often had to deal with back home seemed to rear its ugly head in this world as well.

Pushing himself to his feet and twisting his body left and right until a satisfying 'pop' could be heard on both sides, he started back in the direction he thought the camp was, only to feel an ominous presence in the exact opposite direction. He looked over, seemingly with a face that said, 'It might look like I'm uninterested, but I'm interested'.

A powerful wind swept through the forest, rustling the branches and thousands of tiny leaves. It seemed to be pointing him in that direction.

Since he was the sort to heed ominous signals for the sake of one day stumbling across something worthwhile, a nasty habit he picked up after frequent visits to Kaguya's dimensions, he decided to go that way for the time being. He rationalized that, more then likely, the others weren't even awake yet and that he'd have plenty of time to get back to them before they awoke.

If he didn't get lost that is.

Sasuke decided to dedicate one whole minute toward walking in that direction, and if nothing interesting popped up in that time, he'd high tail it back where he came from. He was surprised to find something after only thirty seconds, shortly after he rounded a tree and glanced over at the small clearing that lay before him.

His eyes widened when he saw the drastic shift in scenery. He had gone from wandering a forest dense with trees and lush with life, to looking at a dark, barren chunk of land with many animal carcasses littering the area, trees void of any leaves, and foliage brown and dried.

Part of him wanted to do the normal thing and walk the other way, but when he saw a person just casually strolling about, he couldn't help himself.

"Hey," he called out, causing the man to stop in his tracks.

Sasuke slowly began to approach the man but stopped when he was sent a glare that rivaled his own.

The man was young, or at least he appeared that way. To sum up his appearance, he was shady. Not too many people seemed to wear toga's in this world, and even fewer wore them in his own. He had red eyes that were overshadowed by his spiky black hair, which fell just above his eyes, casting a shadow over them that to most, would seem creepy.

Sasuke however, knew what real creepy was like, and was unfazed by his somewhat threatening presence for the most part.

"Cast that glare somewhere else friend, I come in peace," Sasuke said.

The man narrowed his eyes, then suddenly widened them, the red color draining from his pupils and slowly being replaced with a pair of black orbs.

"I'm..." he began suddenly. "I'm terribly sorry about this... this is something I can't control."

"What're you talking about?" Sasuke started to approach the stranger but stopped when he noticed that the man was taking two steps back for every one he took.

"S-stay back!"

"Calm down, I just want to-"

"No. You don't understand, this power... I can't control it."

"Alright then, I'll talk to you from here."

The man didn't respond and simply gave the shinobi a perplexed look.

"What's your name?" Sasuke called out.

"Its... Zeref."

"Zeref? Like the freak from the books?"

Zeref frowned at his remark. "Yes, exactly like that 'freak' from whatever books you've read." That comment really seemed to hit a sore spot.

"Weird, I thought you had three-eyes, a tail, and horns."

Zeref shot him a bewildered look in response. Did he actually believe him?

"Aren't you like centuries old?" Sasuke casually asked, as if he weren't speaking to the man who was single-handedly responsible for countless atrocities and other ill deeds. "You know what, nevermind. Something tells me the reason you're still alive has a really long-winded explanation behind it, so I won't even ask."

"You... believe me? You believe me and you aren't afraid of me."

"I've faced far worse, not much that can phase me anymore. So far, you don't seem like a bad guy, but if those stories are even partly true-"

"They are."

Sasuke crossed his arms in disbelief. "So you're telling me, that you one day raided a village in the night, slaughtered its men, raped the women, and used the children in vile experiments that mutated them into creatures beyond human comprehension?"

"It could be true..."

"But it isn't, is it?" Sasuke said.

"I very well could kill you right now. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

Sasuke took a look at his surroundings for a moment, then looked back to Zeref who had since kept a depressing, sorrow-filled frown on his face, as if he were silently apologizing for simply existing.

"Fair point."

"Leave this place."

He looked over at the direction he came, then again, back to Zeref. "If that's what you want, then fine. But before I go, I have a question."

"What would that be?"

"Your knowledge is said to be limitless, it's one of the few things you're consistently given praise for in the admittedly few stories I've read about you. If that's true, then... would you be able to help me?"

"Help you...? I haven't been asked for help in... well over two centuries."

Sasuke stepped forward toward Zeref. This time, the latter didn't take move an inch. "I have a bit of an odd request. You see, I myself am not from this land. In fact, this place... it's so different from my own that I'm not even sure if we're anywhere close my world."

"Your... world? By chance, are you from Edolas, the world that runs parallel to this one?"

"Where I'm from, we refer to the world simply as Earth."

"I see," Zeref trailed off, taking one hesitant step toward Sasuke. "In the numerous ancient texts I have read, very few of them mention 'Earth'. Most often, the term 'Earth' in reference to the world, is followed by 'Land'. In most cases, it's a simple abbreviation, however, I do recall a text I came across long ago that mentions an 'Earth' not in the context of Earthland.

Sasuke cracked a rare smile when he heard that. Now he was getting somewhere.

"That text... I have little memory of it, but I may know where to find it."

"Just point me in the right direction."

"Do you trust me?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, but the unfortunate truth is that I don't have much of a choice here."

"I see. Well then, instead of sending you off on a journey, I'll do you one better. Even now as I live as a recluse, I have... 'associates' who will do my bidding. I'll try and find that tome... don't bother trying to seek me out. I"ll find you."

Sasuke nodded. "Thank you but... I know I was the one who asked, but why are you helping me? I figured you'd at least be reluctant to-"

"I'm bored... very, very bored."

"Is that really it?"

"As it so happens, yes. Decades upon decades with little, genuine human interaction will do that to a person. That and I happen to be feeling a tad generous at the moment."

"Makes sense I guess."

With that, Sasuke started back toward the pond.

There was a brief moment of silence that was briefly accentuated with the passing of the morning breeze.

"Good luck," Zeref suddenly stated low enough to where only someone with a trained ear like Sasuke could hear.

He turned around once more, locked eyes with the man, then looked back to the direction he was heading. This time, he kept his eyes fixed forward.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Taking a Gamble (Naruto)**

* * *

 **I: Day 6**

* * *

Another day had passed since Naruto found himself at the mercy of the Blue Skull guild, bound as a slave by the metal collar around his neck. In that time he had gotten to know some of the other slaves, most of which were more than willing to share their incredibly depressing stories. At one point, Naruto even considered the idea that the slaves were messing with him and simply trying to one-up each other.

Currently, he was mopping up the floors of Cardia Cathedral after a huge guild-wide brawl broke out that resulted in the death of two as well as the complete shitshow he was tasked with picking up after.

Luckily for him, the cathedral was currently void of its members and only he and the other slaves occupied the building. It was a stroke of luck that they all decided to go out and actually take jobs that day, even Geoffry himself was out and about, but where he had disappeared off to, none of the slaves had a clue.

He was still a tad sore from yesterday, however, the rapid healing factor Kurama granted him still took effect, albeit a tad slower thanks to the bizarre properties of this land. Long story short, he could still function, but it hurt like a bitch to bend over for some reason.

Naruto had just finished scrubbing off a particularly stubborn stain off of the once pristine marble flooring when he was approached by Elena, whom he quickly greeted with a welcoming smile. "Come to help out?"

"So it seems," she said, following up with an exaggerated sigh. "To think, of all the people to run into, I happen to run into Master Geoffry out on a midday stroll!"

"Yeesh, how'd that go?"

"Same as always. He greeted me like we were old friends or something, then preceded to try and grab me like he usually does, you know... as if he weren't the man responsible for the deaths of my friends and family, burning my guild to the ground, and ruining my life.

'That went from zero to a hundred real quick!' Naruto thought.

 **'She's definitely unique, I'll give her that.'**

"Anywho," she continued, "he sent me here to help out when I rejected him for... the hundred-somethingth' time?"

"Man that sucks... the brooms are over there by the way."

She shot him a glare.

"What?" Naruto asked out of genuine confusion.

Elena sighed. "Nothing... just... you missed a spot."

Naruto looked down at the area he had just finished scrubbing, noticing now that the there was a speck of what once remained, then his gaze shifted to Elena as he frustratedly grappled his head. "C'mon cut me some slack here! I'm used to making the stains not cleaning em!"

"Oh, your wife must have her hands full with you! How does she do it, I wonder?"

"Huh?"

"Is... something the matter?"

"No, it's just that... how'd you know I was married?"

"Call it women's intuition... or a lucky guess," she said, her expression forming into a simper. "To be perfectly honest, you just seem like the type."

In response, Naruto gave her his signature toothy grin. "You think so?"

The woman gave him an observing gaze, one kept on him long enough for him to eventually take notice.

"Are you... ok?"

"Yes. It's just that... well, you remind me of my husband a bit."

"I do? Well, what was he like- er, if you don't mind me asking!"

Elena let out a breath, her mind suddenly flooded with memories of better days. "I don't mind talking about him... _especially considering I've told just about everyone here..."_

Naruto didn't quite catch that last part.

"Where should I start... he was... loudmouthed, dense... cocky..."

 **'Sounds familiar.'**

'It does! Hmm, but I'm drawing a blank here, help me out Kurama."

"... but likewise, he was strong, brave... and he was just the most caring fellow a woman could ask for... at least, he was for a while."

It didn't feel right to say anything at this point even though he very much wanted to ask what had changed. Luckily for him, she continued.

"When he became the guild master of Red Lizard, he changed. All of a sudden, he started to just drown himself in his work day in and day out and started talking to me less and less. In particular, the thing he was most adamant on managing twenty-four-seven, was our guilds finances after it came out that our last guild master had been stealing money from the guild for years."

"That sounds rough."

"Well, we lived very comfortably during his... very short tenure as guild master, so I suppose it isn't right of me to complain. Thankfully, on occasion, he made time for our daughter, and that's just about all I could really ask for."

"Well, I'm sure he still thought about you. I mean, he's gotta look out for everyone in that guild-thing, right? I can only imagine how hard it must be to juggle that kind of responsibility with family."

"I suppose, but the thing that bothers me the most is that he didn't really have to go that far in the first place. Everyone in that guild, save for that treacherous lech that used to run the place, I would trust with my life. I even had family there."

Having felt he had suddenly spoken out of line, Naruto quickly attempted to change the subject. "So..."

"Oh and the way he-" she cut him off, unaware of his intention to speak. "...we treated that poor girl."

"Girl?" Naruto asked, disregarding his earlier thought process.

"A young servant we used to keep around whose parents owed money to the guild. She-"

Just then, the doors to the cathedral opened. The looming presence that befell the room caused the other slaves to perform their duties ten times more vigorously, and a deathly silence befell the building.

Geoffry walked in, staff in hand and as dignified as ever. He cast a glance, checking the progress of the cleanup operation. Luckily, he was satisfied with the work being done thus far and started toward his chamber without comment. By some stroke of bad luck, Naruto and Elena happened to be on the way.

"Elena, darling," Geoffry began, "Have you reconsidered-"

"I'm allergic to tea."

A look of displeasure appeared on the man's face. "You know, I'm getting awfully sick o-"

"And I'm getting sick of your numerous advances, Master Geoffry."

Her sudden outburst caused Naruto to gain a look of worry. Despite this, the other slaves carried on like nothing was happening, as if this were simply business as usual.

Not to keen on being stared at, he directed his ire toward Naruto, who was silently watching with one hand lazily brushing a sponge against the floor.

"What are you gawking at?" Geoffry barked.

Naruto went to respond, as was in his nature to do, but Elena quickly interjected.

"Don't bring him into this. If you have something you want to say, then say it to me."

Geoffry glared at the woman, then silently retreated to his office, slamming the door behind him.

Elena shook her head, arms crossed under her chest in disapproval. "Vile man."

"Does he bother you like that often?" Naruto asked.

"More then I'd care to admit, yes. At first, I thought it was simply an act of cruelty on his part. These days, its an almost daily occurrence."

Naruto stood up and assumed his casual posture, placing his hands behind his head. "Seems persistent," he said, glancing in a direction. "You'd think he'd take a hint after a while."

 **'Kinda reminds me of a certain someone I know.'**

'Really, who the heck is this guy? His names on the tip of my tongue but I just can't- eh? Kurama? Kuuuurama? Huh.'

"One of these days," Elena continued, staring at the door to her captor's office with a concerned expression. "I fear he might try something."

"I'm surprised he hasn't already," Naruto said, snapping out of his stupor.

"Hmph, call him what you want, but he does happen to possess SOME qualities. Being a gentleman just so happens to be one of them," she spat, as if the very act of uttering something positive about the man left a sour taste in her mouth.

"I dunno," Naruto trailed off, his eyes being drawn to the office door, "I'd watch your back if I were you."

"I've had to deal with this type of behavior for a little over five years now, I can handle it."

They resumed their duties without another word and remained silent for the rest of the job. When all was said and done, Naruto and the other slaves quickly vacated the premises before the guild mages returned, and all of their work would quickly be undone.

* * *

 **II**

* * *

Now Naruto didn't know what to think of the story Elena had told him. Where he came from, it took a bit of work to get someone to pour out their whole life story, here he just had to ask. Then again he did come from a society where secrecy and ambiguity were the norm, so it didn't boggle the mind all that much that people were much more open here.

On route to their quarters, a two-story apartment complex situated a block down from the cathedral, Naruto decided to bank off from the group, which wasn't too difficult considering his years of training and experience as a shinobi.

He was situated currently in a dark alleyway that led into a worn down roadway, one that led all the way to the edge of town.

This, however, wasn't what he was looking for. At the moment, he was just exploring, trying to find a quiet, desolate place where he could get this collar off. His plan went in three steps: First, get the collar off, Second, free the slaves, Third, get the hell out. Was it painfully simple? Yes, but, Naruto didn't have time to sweat the details at the moment. His main concern right now was just to find Sasuke, and subsequently, a way home.

His eyes scanned over the road, spotting a group of mages that seemed to patrol the area. When they rounded a corner and left his sight, he gave the area a once over, his eyes falling on the stone-brick housing that lined the block. In particular, one house caught his attention.

The door to one of the homes opened, and out stepped a man. The fellow was plain-looking, and about average height with nothing to really distinguish him from any other ordinary Joe. He looked to be talking with someone, a woman of similar standing in regards to her general appearance, an ordinary Jane, as one would have it. To describe the couple with a single phrase, the word 'plain' would fit the bill.

"Its just a quick run to the market, I'll come back as soon as possible," the man said, stepping out onto the stairway which connected with the street.

"But the mages are out today! They-" the woman cried, worry oozing from her tone.

"We can't keep hiding from them! If we keep letting them step all over us like this, then things will never change." With that, the man walked down the steps.

With tears welling in her eyes, she cried out at the very same moment a child no older than five peeked out from within the house. In her hand, a small stuffed bear was being strangled by her grasp.

"Stop acting like some kind of hero damnit! You aren't a mage anymore and you have a family to worry about now, so stop being so selfish!"

"Just... calm down. I'll be fine, It's just a quick trip down the block. I'll be careful, and I promise, I won't start anything this time."

Naruto, who had been watching from the shadows cast by the ally's two-story walls, made eye contact with the girl, and she quickly retreated to the safety of her mothers back.

He couldn't help but smile at her, as if in an attempt to reassure her himself, or at least get her attention away from the fight that was going on. It worked somewhat as her fearful expression quickly lifted into a confused, albeit an intrigued, one.

Suddenly he made a face, one that often used to get Boruto to smile when he was smaller. These days he was to 'grown,' for such a thing, yet still, he would net a smile out of his son on occasion.

When he got the desired reaction, he went to make another but stopped when he spotted a figure lurking atop one of the buildings above. He had one of those staffs the other mages carried in hand and was pointing it like some kind of firearm.

Concluding that he was aiming the thing right at the arguing mans back, he scaled the rooftop similar to how he had done it before, quick and easy. He was successful as he found himself standing on the rooftop, directly beside the cloaked man who looked as though he was about to suffer from a heart attack.

In a flash, Naruto blinked into existence directly in front of the would-be assassin, grappled him by the collar, and delivered a fierce headbutt to his skull, knocking the man unconscious. Like a rag doll, he then violently tossed him off to the side, his body slamming into a chimney.

Upon confirming that his assailant was out for the count, Naruto knelt down and looked over the edge to see how the situation turned out. Surprisingly, he saw the husband embrace his wife and step back inside of the house. Through the tiniest window provided by the visage of the two adult figures, and the very frame of the door itself, he spotted the girl who was looking on at him in awe.

The shinobi gave her wink, and she beamed up at him before the door was eventually closed.

After a quick once over of the surrounding rooftops, he concluded that he wasn't in danger of being seen and went to hop back down to street level. Right before he jumped over the edge, however, his eye caught sight of the staff lying at the edge of the building. Picking it up, he examined the object.

It looked to be made out of some kind wood, though its texture was unique in that the roughness of ordinary lumber was still present, yet it was glossy to the touch. Appearance wise, it bent and curved, and was four feet long. Its tip spiraled at the end, curling into itself where, at the center of the spiral, a small blue gem lay embedded into the wood.

"How do you think this thing works?" Naruto thought aloud, aiming it as the man had done, rhis time toward the giant crystal dragon that gripped the cathedral.

 **'How should I know, it just looks like a fancily carved stick!'**

"Did you see how that guy was pointing it though? I wonder if it shoots some-" he trailed off as the gem on the end of the stick began to glow, "-thing?"

Just then, a barrage of blue lasers shot out of the object all at once, packing so much force that Naruto was sent sliding a few feet. He watched the trail travel until it eventually impacted with, as fate would have it, the cathedral.

"Oh shit," Naruto mumbled as he watched the dragon sculpture begin to collapse, the blast had knocked some of its supports loose. "Shit, shit, shit... SHIT!"

 **'Don't just stand there with your thumbs up your ass, run!'**

"Where!?"

 **'I say left!'**

"Where left!?"

* * *

 **III**

* * *

When Naruto suddenly popped into Elena's room, she was in the midst of preparing supper. Her attention was drawn to the door immediately when it suddenly flew upon so hard that it actually bounced off of the door stop, and propelled itself back into Naruto's face.

"N-Naruto!?" Elena yelled approaching the fallen blond. "What in the world has gotten into you? And what was all that commotion outside."

He shot up, glanced down both directions of the hallway, and quickly crawled into the room, and closed the door. It was only then that Elena noticed the staff he held in his hand.

"Ok, so I kinda did something pretty crazy, but by accident!"

"I can only imagine," she remarked, eyeing the staff. "Where'd you get that?"

"Eh, long story short, there's a mage guy up on a roof somewhere unconscious... probably dead, I dunno I hit him pretty hard."

"You killed a-"

"SHH!"

" _You killed a Blue Skull mage?"_

 _"Maybe, I didn't check for a pulse. Anywho, I got this stick right, and I was messing with it for a bit when I happened to be aiming toward the Cathedral. I don't know what I did but it suddenly shot out a huge amount of energy, and knocked that bone dragon loose!"_

 _"Are you mad!? You do something as crazy as that and then decide to hold onto the incriminating evidence!? What's more, YOU BROUGHT IT HERE!"_

 _"Quit yelling!"_

 _"I'm not!"_

"Ok look," Naruto began, resuming his normal tone. "I'm working on a plan to get us all out of here, but I can't do it with this stupid collar on my neck. If I so much as try and touch the thing, it freaking shocks me! Hell, sometimes I think that Geoffry guy just sits in his office pressing that bUUUUTTTOnnn!"

Elena jumped. "A-are you ok?"

"NO! I think he's sitting on the remote!"

"W-what should I do then?"

"Grab that staff, and blast it off my neck!"

"Are you insane!?"

"WahaHAHAHAH! Just d-d-d-d-d-do it!" Naruto shouted!"

Hesitantly, Elena gripped the staff and pressed it against the collar and calling upon her experience as a mage for the first time in a little over half a decade. A bead of sweat slid past her cheeks as gem began to emit a faint light that began to slowly build up until... *ZAP*

The beam was far smaller this time, and not nearly as explosive as Elena had thought it would be, causing a look of bewilderment to form.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as the satisfying *clunk* of the metal collar impacting with the ground graced his ears.

"Man!" he said with a heavy sigh. "Hey, how'd you get it to not explode like that?"

"This... this things a pea shooter!"

"Excuse me?"

"How in the world did you make a blast so big come out of this thing? The only way it could ever be lethal is if it struck someone directly in... well... the neck."

"You tell me, you were married to a guild master weren't you?"

"Well yeah but... there's no way a thing like this could do what you said!"

Just then, a series of bangs at the door rang clear.

"Hey, slave! Master Geoffry wants a word with ALL of you!"

Elena shot Naruto a look that said, 'Look what you did.' Then, Naruto promptly responded with an apologetic one.

"Alright," Elena said, "Let me get dressed first, I'm not decent!"

"Really? OPEN UP THEN!" The man on the other end cried.

Panic befell the duo as they immediately tried hiding the staff. The moment the door flew open, and the man noticed Naruto and Elena attempting to toss the staff out the window, the Blue Skull mage widened his eyes. "Hey, where'd you-"

"HA!" Naruto shouted as he aimed the staff toward the man, who didn't even get the chance to react as the same beam from before shot forth from the staff, erasing the man from existence, and blowing a gaping hole in the surrounding floor, wall, and the walls from the room directly across from them.

'It did it again!'Naruto mentally screamed, pointing towards the smoldering hole in the floor. The sounds of commotion from down below prompted Naruto to take a peek through the hole in the floor. There, he saw at least three Blue skull mages making their way upstairs. 'We'll figure it out later, right now... I think its time we made our getaway!'

 **'I second that notion.'**

"Ms. Elena," Naruto began, forcing the woman out of her stupor. "We're getting out of here!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A Humbling Encounter (Sasuke)**

* * *

 **I: Day 7**

* * *

The wind blew harshly over the shanty town of Magnolia in a manner so fierce that one could almost see the worn exteriors of its many buildings shift ever so slightly. Contrary to what they had been told, the mountainous borders that surrounded the town weren't heavily fortified with Blue Skull mages, nor were the building tops, nor the streets that weaved between residential blocks and market districts. Instead, these areas were void of life, with only the mice to frequent only a handful of these locations.

The group stepped forward, passing beneath a sign that read, 'Welcome to Magnolia!' with small text sloppily splashed about in a manner that just barely resembled the words, 'Home of Blue Skull'. As they started forward in uniform, Yuri paused to take a look at the structure looming just above the nearby houses and shops.

"So they're held up in Cardia Cathedral right?" Yuri asked. "Place looks like its seen better days."

Noticing the remains of what looked to be a crystal-bone-like structure still attached to certain parts of the cathedral, Precht gave an intrigued, 'hmm'. "Looks like whatever they had on top of it collapsed in on itself. Must've been heavy, judging by the look of things."

Warrod gave a half-hearted shrug. "Maybe we got lucky, and they all got crushed or something."

"Doubt it," Sasuke interjected. "That many people dead, and with a breeze like this? We'dve smelt it coming up the road."

"They could be... freshly crushed?" Mavis said, drawing everyone's attention. "What?"

"Could be," Sasuke said. "Let's go see for ourselves."

The walk was done mostly in silence, with the treasure hunters on occasion chatting amongst themselves, and Mavis randomly speaking to thin air along with the voice of whatever it was she was speaking with ever so slightly grazing against Sasuke's eardrums. For the shinobi, it was quite a surreal experience, having voices that were and weren't there, manifesting and blending together to create a unique form of chatter he hadn't yet experienced.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the Cathedral, they noticed the large double doors begin to open as grunts and groans filled the air.

Acting quickly, the group darted off back down the road they came, in separate directions and took cover in various locations.

Sasuke and Mavis hid in an alleyway with a bench nestled atop the sidewalk just barely obfuscating them from view. Silently they watched as hooded figures emerged from the building, each struggling to drag the massive bone fragments, similar to the ones still attached to the roof, out into the open clearing.

Sasuke's eyes were drawn to a large pile of blue bones that sat just off to the side, and the apparent destination of the hooded men. He then looked back to the entrance, having sensed a significant power spike coming from within.

Walking out onto the sunbathed pavement was a man with a face that essentially embodied the guild. He had a limp to his step and a walking stick that allowed him the privilege of movement. Something about him was off something that bugged Sasuke enough to push Mavis completely out of view, much to her dismay.

"Hey, I'm trying to get a better look!" She shout-whispered.

"Something's wrong here," Sasuke said, making contact with a nearby trash can.

Yuri's head poked out for a brief second and then retreated back from whence it came. _"I think he knows we're here,"_ he communicated utilizing a series of hand motions, a secret form of language known only to him and his fellow treasure hunters.

Sasuke raised an eye at this.

Precht, who stood in an alleyway adjacent to their's along with Warrod, noticed this and locked eyes with Sasuke, who simply shrugged in turn. He sighed, then shifted his gaze to the trash can where he proceeded to make seemingly random hand gestures, one of which Sasuke swore resembled a bunny hopping along on its merry way, only to get crushed by an anvil having materialized from the sky. What that translated to, he would likely never know.

"This is no time to be playing charades! Also, what's the worry? We're completely hidden from view at this angle."

"Still." Sasuke, deciding to enlighten her, drew himself further into the alley as to avoid drawing attention to himself. "Look at his posture, he's alert and, though I'm not sure if you can tell through his goggles, is scanning the area."

"You can see through his goggles? But they're tinted to dark."

"Let's just say, my eyes are a tad keener than most."

Understatement of the year.

"Master Geoffry!" one of the mages cried. "I just had a great idea!"

"Well?" Geoffry began. "Spit it out!"

"Y-yes, sir! I was just wondering sir if... you know, you could use your magic to help us move this stuff... er... sir!"

A glare silenced the man and froze him in place.

"My apologies master! F-forget I asked anything!

"I already have," Geoffry said, walking off to join the group piled around the bones.

Sasuke, who had peeked out just in time to watch the interaction go down, pulled himself back behind cover. They appeared to be occupied, making now the perfect time to slip past them undetected.

Of course, something had to go wrong, however.

Hesitantly, he turned around and, sure enough, Mavis was nowhere to be seen. Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration then peered around the corner once more. Geoffry now was chastising his men for some trivial matter, but what drew his attention almost immediately, was Mavis quietly slipping into the cathedral without so much as drawing a head to her presence. Sasuke glanced back to the group of mages, seeing that they were far too occupied with the bones to pay any mind to anything else, and seized his opportunity. Quickly, he stepped out from his hiding place, drawing forth a faintly audible gasp from the trash can, and made a break for the cathedral as silently as only one from his line of work could achieve.

Upon slipping into the building, he was met with Mavis, who apparently anticipated his following.

"Good, you're here! See that bone over there?"

Sasuke glared. "That was stupid."

Mavis frowned. "I can take care of myself you know?"

"That's not what I'm getting at. We had no way of knowing if this building was empty."

"Well, it is, as you can see! No harm done," Mavis said, spinning on her heel and examining the area. "We're looking for a purple orb of sorts, about yay big or so, and has a weird little 'eye' pattern to it."

This girl reminded him of Naruto. Was it perhaps her bright and optimistic personality? Or was it her tendency to be reckless, and throw caution to the wind at every possible occasion?

"Doesn't look like she's here?" Said Mavis from the other side of the building. "Hey, let's check out that room over there!"

Sasuke, realizing it was hopeless to argue, followed after her.

Without hesitation, Mavis entered the room with Sasuke trailing close behind, closing the door behind them. They found themselves in an office littered with random objects and various documents sprawled about. Display cases containing objects that, to Sasuke, looked like a bunch of junk, lay on their side or were smashed completely. The nearby window was wide open and gave a clear view of the men working outside.

Sasuke drew his attention from the scene to the girl who was frantically tossing items around, in search of what he assumed was the Tenrou Jade. He stepped forward, then retracted his leg when he felt something solid and awkward. Lying on the ground where the remains of, by his guess, some kind of remote, plain and simple in design with only a button and dial.

"Watch your step."

"C' mon, help me look."

Sasuke shook his head and got to searching. A solid five minutes with no luck passed until the sound of the doors opening in the main chamber caught their attention.

"Find it?" Sasuke asked.

"Nope!"

"Then that's a wrap," the shinobi stated, taking hold of Mavis and slinging her over his shoulder.

"H-hey! Just let me check one more time!"

"Master Geoffry wants his medication." a muffled voice asked from beyond the door.

"Where's it at?"

"Should be under his desk. Top Drawer."

That was all Sasuke needed to hear. And with that, he leaped out the window with Mavis pounding away at his back all the while. Upon touching the ground outside, he turned to the direction they came only to be met with the cold gaze of Geoffry, who stood idle with an annoyed expression plastered over his face.

Sasuke grit his teeth and set Mavis down, drawing his sword and pushing the girl behind him. "Stay behind me."

"O-ok."

Geoffry tilted his head and gave a half-hearted sigh. "You know, this is the third time someones attempted to steal from me. I must say, I'm not very fond of thieves."

"Then you shouldn't have taken what wasn't yours!" Mavis shouted. "Wheres the Tenrou Jade?"

"The jade?" the man asked. "Why, it's right here."

Sasuke and Mavis watched the man reach into his pocket and pull out an orb that matched Mavis' description and dangle it in front of them in a mocking manner.

"I will say, in my defense, I didn't simply take this."

"Liar! I was there, you... you burnt my home to ashes! You killed everyone I ever knew! You stole our sacred treasure... you took everything from me!"

"All within the boundaries of the law."

"W-what?"

"Have you ever heard of a guild-war, child?"

"A guild-war... but those are-"

"Outlawed? Just as Dark Guilds are 'outlawed'? Yet here we are, in control of one of the most prestigious towns in the entire kingdom, the home of Cardia Cathedral! Laws are simply what we dark guilds make them, Fiore is ours."

"You..."

Sasuke's eyes flickered right, then he slightly craned his head to face the area behind. They were surrounded on all sides.

"Also, just to clear up any misconceptions, I didn't simply show up out of the blue. Your master was well aware that we were on our way... and yet, we still managed to catch you lot off guard. I wonder... was he perhaps... going to abandon you lot to save his own skin?"

Mavis didn't respond.

"No protests? BWAHAHA! Oh, that's rich! It seems you despised that man as much as I!"

"I didn't- I- didn't hate him... the only person I hate here is you!"

"Please, don't lie to yourself, it won't look good on your record when you're judged by the gods! Men, send them to hel-"

In the blink of an eye, a mere instant before Geoffry could finish his sentence, Sasuke had shot forward at speeds rivaling a bullet. Had it not been for the invisible force that bound him just shy of two feet away from his target, his blade poised mere inches from the guild master's chest, he surely would've lost his balance.

There was a strange feeling at the bottom of his feet, one he couldn't tell if it was the result of whatever force was locking him in place... or his own chakra network.

Geoffry glared at the man, then, like a bothered house owner troubled by a pesky fly, swatted the man away with a mighty back-hand that didn't actually connect with its target.

Sasuke was sent careening backward but ultimately was able to regain his footing with the help of his sword.

"Mr. Sasuke... are you ok?"

Sasuke grit his teeth.

Geoffry, who at the moment thought very little of the situation, started off, intent on letting his underlings deal with the problem at hand. "Deal with these worms."

"You need to run," Sasuke ordered.

"What? But-"

"I'll clear an opening for you... just get out of here! I'll take care of this."

"I'm not going to leave you!"

In response, Sasuke offered her a reassuring smile. "Trust me and it'll all work out. I've got a lot more experience dealing with situations like these then you think-" there was a brief pause, and then a guttural cough escaped his lips. A look of shock appeared on his face as he noticed the blood that had splattered on the ground.

"Mr. Sasuke?"

Sasuke remained silent up until the point where one of the mages got cocky and tried taking him out while he wasn't looking. With a single stroke of his blade, he fell his attacker, and then the three that followed in his footsteps.

"Get on my back!"

Mavis complied without a moment to waste.

"*cough* Hang on and don't let go."

"A-are you ok?"

Sasuke spun around and kicked a man away, sending him tumbling to the ground and tripping a group of people charging his way. Quickly, he leaped atop one of their backs and used him like a trampoline to propel himself out of the crowd, and into the open area beyond. He made a hard turn in the direction of the towns main entrance and ran.

The mob of angry mages gave chase as they sent sparks, fireballs, and orbs of ice forward.

Sasuke weaved around the hostile elements, allowing them to impact with the many buildings around them and blow craters in the road.

"Mr. Sasuke, they're on the roofs!"

The shinobi offered a quick glance toward where she was pointing and sure enough, groups of mages aiming their staffs down at the road were seen firing all manner of energy blasts and elemental hail storms that filled the road with smoke upon impact.

He was already a fair distance away from the mob when the coughing struck once again. This time, it felt as though a heavy weight had been dropped on his shoulders, and he was forced to slow down. His once rhythmic sprint had been reduced to a rigid trot as his breathing grew heavy and he felt his vision begin to blur.

Eventually, he fell and he and Mavis were sent tumbling forward.

Mavis recovered almost immediately and crawled over to Sasuke's side. "Mr. Sasuke! C'mon... we have to go!" She cried, attempting to pull him along with her meager strength.

"Go... I'll be.. ngh... fine..."

"No, you won't be fine! Gosh... you're so pale now... what's happening?"

"I... I... can't..."

Sasuke blacked out.

 **Sorry about the wait, I've been making updates to the older chapters and didn't want to post until I had everything done. The changes are mostly grammar and dialogue related, however, I also added a day counter to each chapter since I noticed the timeline was getting a bit confusing. I kept the most of the changes from heavily impacting the story so you guys wouldn't have to re-read the older chapters.**


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